Asian Paints Likely To Issue Bonus Shares

Encouraged by its impressive performance in the year ended March 31, 2000, Asian Paints (India) Ltd is likely to issue bonus shares. The board of directors of the company will meet on May 30 to consider the issue.

"The company has been doing very well during the year," said M L Bansal, the company secretary. "The performance in the last quarter has been in line with performance till December 31 - the first three quarters," he added.

Ashwin Dani, vice-chairman and managing director of the company, said: "We are confident that our focussed initiatives provide optimism for the future."

For the nine months ended December 31, gross sales of the company stood at Rs 1009.21 crore, up 17.8 per cent compared to the corresponding period previous year. Paint sales standing at Rs 944.33 crore, registered a healthy growth of 17.53 per cent.

 

Profit before tax till December 31, increased 42.1 per cent to Rs 92.27 crore. Net profit after provision for taxes stood at Rs 62.75 crore - up over 30 per cent compared to the corresponding period previous year.

The company's sales in the wall finish segment registered an increase of over 25 per cent. In the exterior paint segment, ACE - the economy exterior emulsion - and APEX - the premium exterior emulsion - put together registered extremely impressive growth.

Ashwin Dani, vice-chairman and managing director, had earlier said: "The rural market has witnessed healthy growth in the current year and current trends make us very optimistic about the future growth rates."