Asian Paints gains 6% from day's low as Q1 profit beats Street estimates

Against analysts' expectations of Rs 571 crore, its consolidated net profit jumped 18 per cent to Rs 655 crore from a profit of Rs 557 crore in the year ago quarter.

Shares of Asian Paints climbed 3 per cent to Rs 1,475 per share, gaining 6 per cent from intra-day low level on the BSE on Wednesday after the company reported a better-than-expected April-June quarter result in financial year 2019-20 (Q1FY20). 

The company's net profit jumped 18 per cent to Rs 655 against analysts' expectations of Rs 571 crore. Asian Paints had hit a low of Rs 1,396 in early morning deal on the BSE. However, post the results, Asian Paints became the largest gainer at the S&P BSE Sensex index which was, otherwise, trading in the red during the final hour of trade .

The company’s revenue from operations during the quarter under review rose 17 per cent to Rs 5,131 crore from Rs 4,399 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) margin, too, improved by 140 basis points (bps) YoY to 22.5 per cent from 21.1 per cent in Q1FY19. The Street had expected a revenue of Rs 4,820 crore for the quarter.

The management attributed the company's performance to the decorative business segment in India, which registered a high double digit volume growth and delivered strong performance across regions.

"The Automotive coatings JV (PPG-AP) business was affected by the severe slowdown being witnessed in the automobile industry. Even the Industrial Coatings JV (AP-PPG) business was impacted by demand slowdown. Benign raw material prices, however, supported the margins for the entire coatings business," it said.

The stock hit a high of Rs 1,519 on April 4, 2019. Since then, it has underperformed the market by falling 8 per cent from the level. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 2 per cent during the same period till Tuesday.

At 02:11 pm, Asian Paints was trading 3 per cent higher at Rs 1,476 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.18 per cent decline in the benchmark index. The trading volumes on the counter jumped nearly five-fold with a combined 5.3 million shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE.