Asian Paints on Tuesday reported a 1.18 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 480.25 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2020, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 485.99 crore during January-March quarter of the previous fiscal, Asian Paints said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue from operations dipped 7.13 per cent to Rs 4,635.59 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 4,991.50 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.
“Loss of sales due to the lockdown in March’20 impacted the decorative business segment in an otherwise strong quarter with double-digit volume growth in the first two months of the quarter. Even with the loss of sales, the decorative business segment in a tough year has registered double-digit volume growth for the year and strong profit numbers,” the company said.
“Challenging business conditions affected operations in some of the key markets in our international business portfolio, especially Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
Total expenses fell 7.35 per cent to Rs 3,996.13 crore in the quarter under review as compared with Rs 4,313.25 crore a year ago.
However, for fiscal year 2019-20, Asian Paints’ net profit rose 25.64 per cent to Rs 2,774.19 crore as against Rs 2,208.04 crore in 2018-19.
Revenue from operations also increased 5 per cent to Rs 20,211.25 crore in 2019-20 from Rs 19,248.45 crore in 2018-19.
In a separate filing, Asian Paints said its board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 1.50 per equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.
Shares of Asian Paints Ltd on Tuesday closed 1.83 per cent higher at Rs 1,683.65 on the BSE.
