Asian Paints third quarter profit up 12% at Rs 368 crore

Asian Paints today reported 11.78% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 368.18 crore for the third quarter ended December 2014.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 329.35 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 3,602.8 crore, up 5.57% as compared to Rs 3,412.61 crore in the same period of previous fiscal.

Commenting on the performance, Asian Paints Managing Director and CEO K B S Anand said: "We registered single digit volume growth in the decorative paint segment in India due to sluggish demand conditions.

"Growth in the current quarter was also affected due to the early festival season as compared to the previous year."

Talking about their overseas business, he said: The international business performance was led by double digit growth in some markets like Bangladesh, Nepal and Emirates even though some countries continue to be affected by political events and macro economic uncertainty."

Overall expenses during the quarter stood at Rs 3,136.42 crore as against Rs 2,977.95 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Asian Paints shares were trading 3.38% down at Rs 879.5 apiece during afternoon session on the BSE.