Hold Asian Paints, says Mayuresh Joshi

Mayuresh Joshi of Angel Broking told CNBC-TV18, "In terms of volume growth, the numbers of Asian Paints were above estimates that we had at least pegged. But it was largely aided by the price cuts that it had taken and these price cuts will still help in getting volume share going forward as well. If you look at a perspective in terms of how the valuations are at the current juncture, trading at more than 45-42 odd times, always traded at a premium. There are a few things going right for the company if the price cuts are helping volumes, if the monsoons are better, the volume growth can be much better going forward. Re-painting demand which is being subdued over the past two years, can have significant uptick going ahead.""The only issue would be with margins because the benign input cost actually helped Asian Paints this quarter around as well. With raw material prices increasing over the past few weeks, the margins can get curtailed, but volumes can offset the slowdown in margins that we are probably witnessing. The home improvement segment, again in an investment phase, so the losses at the bottomline are expected to continue, but gain the international business is growing at a very steady clip – West Africa and Bangladesh is probably aiding them," he said."It will be very interesting to note how the adhesives segment of Asian Paints is going to aid the topline. The management commentary thereoff will be extremely crucial. But I think impressive set of numbers, so investors holding on should continue holding on to Asian Paints."