Asian Paints CEO sees steady urban demand, flags tech layoffs

The green shoots of demand in urban markets are likely to sustain, Amit Syngle, chief executive of Asian Paints said on Tuesday, even as the country's largest paint maker will continue to monitor the broader impact of large-scale job cuts in the technology sector. He said the recent 12,000 job cuts announced by a software services company will remain monitorable as others in the sector could follow suit.

"I think in a way, some of these things bottomed out. So, overall, I think...that the demand condition should not go down worse than what we have seen," Syngle said on a call after the company's quarterly earnings.

Net Profit falls 6%


Asian Paints' consolidated net profit fell nearly 6% on-year to ₹1,099.8 crore in the June quarter despite sales volume in its decorative business in India growing nearly 4%.

Consolidated net sales for the period remained almost flat at ₹8,924 crore. Revenue was impacted due to a shift in the product mix, and subdued demand environment amid macro-economic uncertainties and early monsoons, the company said in a statement.

On a standalone level, sales fell by 1.2% to ₹7,849 crore on-year, while profit before depreciation, interest, tax and other income (PBDIT), before share in profit of associates, declined by nearly 5% to ₹1,520 crore.