Asian Paints Ltd., India’s largest paint company, has announced a price hike of 0.7-1% across its portfolio, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday, July 10. This marks the first price increase in 12 to 15 months.
Berger Paints has also confirmed a similar price hike, effective from July 22. Both companies cite rising input costs as the reason for the increase.
Over the past year, declining crude and input prices led paint companies to slash prices to boost demand. This created a significant gap between value and volume growth. Now, companies are reversing this trend with the latest price hikes, typically seen before the festive season but occurring ahead of the monsoon this year.
Asian Paints, often a trendsetter in the industry, reported a 10% volume growth in its decorative business for the March quarter. The company’s net profit for the quarter was ₹1,275 crore, with revenue at ₹8,731 crore. Despite this, weak demand and downtrading in the premium segment affected revenue.
MD and CEO Amit Syngle expressed optimism about demand picking up, supported by a favorable monsoon forecast. The company had previously slashed prices by 3.7% in the March quarter.
Shares of Asian Paints Ltd. were up 1.40% at ₹2,945.75, while Berger Paints saw a 3% rise to ₹529.55 on the NSE during afternoon trading.
‘This price adjustment is necessary to counterbalance the inflation in input costs,’ noted industry analysts. As Asian Paints leads the way, other companies are expected to follow suit in the coming months.
