(Reuters) -Akzo Nobel India’s first-quarter profit fell on Monday, hurt by weak retail demand for its paints, including the premium ‘Dulux’ brand.
Consolidated net profit fell over 20% on-year to 910 million rupees ($10.4 million) for the April-June quarter, while revenue slid 4%.
“In Q1 … retail was subdued due to tepid consumer demand and heightened competition,” said Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Rajgopal.
The company also declared a one-time special dividend of 156 rupees for fiscal 2026, stemming from its first-quarter earnings and deals it struck with its Dutch parent and JSW Group.
For further earnings highlights, click here.
KEY CONTEXT
Akzo Nobel India was acquired by JSW Group in June, shifting focus to its turnaround strategy after years of trailing larger rivals Asian Paints, Kansai Nerolac and Berger Paints.
The deal came amid intensifying competition in the sector and dull demand, as urban consumers delayed non-essential spending or opted for low-cost alternatives.
Last week, Asian Paints said retail weakness was showing early signs of abating. Smaller peers weathered the slowdown better, helped by exposure across industries, analysts noted.
Kansai Nerolac and Berger will report results later this week.
PEER COMPARISON
Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts’ sentiment
months) months)
RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue Profit growth Mean rating* # of Stock to price Div yield
growth (%) (%) analysts target** (%)
Akzo Nobel India 33.75 21.98 7.75 10.84 Buy 2 0.99 2.75
Asian Paints 52.30 34.60 5.43 7.45 Hold 34 1.02 1.02
Kansai Nerolac 27.00 16.59 7.17 27.04 Hold 13 0.88 1.00
Paints
Berger Paints 49.32 30.86 8.79 10.24 Hold 20 1.05 0.67
India
* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell
** The ratio of the stock’s last close to analysts’ mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT
APRIL-JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE
— All data from LSEG
— $1 = 87.5690 Indian rupees
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
