Low crude prices aided margin growth in Q3: Asian Paints

KBS Anand, MD & CEO, Asian Paints speaking to CNBC-TV18’s Menaka Doshi from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum at Davos said the demand picture in 2016 does not look far different from what it was in 2015 - plus minus one percent, although sharp fall in crude prices did help margins in third quarter.Consumer demand has been varied across country; south impacted by rains in Chennai, and in Karnataka, Kerala, coastal Andhra but north east has been good - India will always be like Europe there will always be some good spots and some bad spots, said Anand. Going forward we will be cautiously optimisic, he added.“It was a saw patchy recovery across India,” said Anand.Asian Paints has posted a strong and steady October-December quarter, beating street estimates on all counts. The company's Q3 net profit jumped 25.8 percent to Rs 463 crore from Rs 368 crore in corresponding quarter last fiscal.During the period under review, its EBITDA jumped 37.1 percent at Rs 800 crore versus Rs 584 crore and EBITDA margins was at 19.2 percent versus 16 percent year-on-year. Its gross margins expanded 330 basis points (bps) to 47.1 percent against 43.8 percent (Y-o-Y). Its margins expand substantially on back of increasing premium volumes and advantages provided by benign input costs continued to aid margins.