Asian Paints Q3 net at Rs 329.35 cr

Asian Paints today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 329.35 crore for the third quarter ended December, 2013.
The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 335.23 crore in the year-ago period, Asian Paints said in a filing to the BSE.
Net sales during the quarter under review stood at Rs 3,412.61 crore, while it was Rs 3,033.86 crore in the same period previous fiscal.
The results include unaudited consolidated financials of Sleep International Pvt Ltd, in which the company acquired 51 per cent stake on August 8, 2013 and hence, are not comparable with the corresponding period, it said.

Commenting on the performance, Asian Paints Managing Director and CEO KBS Anand said: "The decorative business in India did well considering the challenging and uncertain macro environment. Raw material prices were marginally higher in the third quarter."
Cost of materials consumer stood at Rs 1,845.21 crore during the quarter as against Rs 1,572.30 crore in the year-ago period, the company said.

"Industrial paints segment continued to be impacted by sluggish manufacturing environment in the economy, with no major capex activity. Automotive coatings growth was affected due to the subdued demand in automotive sector," he added
On the international business, Anand said Middle East and Asia have done well even though some countries continued to be affected by political events and macro economic uncertainty.

During the quarter, the company's wholly-owned arm Asian Paints Ltd, Mauritius (APIL) acquired an additional stake of 12.8 per cent in its subsidiary Berger International Ltd, Singapore (BIL) through a voluntary unconditional cash offer and open market purchases. As on December 31, 2013 the shareholding of APIL in BI Lwas 96.5 per cent, it added.