Kansai Nerolac Paints Q4 net profit down 23.5 per cent to Rs 65.4 cr

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 85.41 crore in January-March quarter a year ago, Kansai Nerolac said in a BSE filing.

Its total revenue from operations dropped 1.55 per cent to Rs 1,080.07 crore during the quarter under review as compared with Rs 1,221.23 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Commenting on the results, Kansai Nerolac Vice Chairman and Managing Director H M Bharuka said, "Sales and bottomline was impacted this quarter due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Demand for automotive paints continued to be severely impacted due to the continued unprecedented slowdown in auto. Decorative growth was better."

Despite the year being extremely challenging due to cost control program and management of overheads, the company said it was able to improve EBITDA by 5.3 per cent and EBITDA margin by 150 basis points.

"PBT was impacted due to lower other income and higher depreciation. In the challenging business situation, company was also able to release cash of Rs 123 crore from working capital," Bharuka said.

"Looking forward, the prolonged uncertainty due to COVID has created further demand destruction in the near term," he added.

The company's total expenses fell 9.99 per cent to Rs 990.41 crore as against Rs 1,100.45 crore a year ago.

However, Kansai Nerolac's net profit for fiscal year 2019-20 rose 15.21 per cent to Rs 515.78 crore as against Rs 447.66 crore in the year before.

Its total revenue from operations for the fiscal stood at Rs 5,279.97 crore, down 2.66 per cent from Rs 5,424.32 crore in 2018-19.

Meanwhile, in a separate filing, Kansai Nerolac said its board has recommended a dividend of Rs 3.15 per equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2020.

It also informed about appointment of Shigeki Takahara and Takashi Tomioka as non-executive directors with effect from May 7, 2020, which would be subject to approval of shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting of the company.

Shares of Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd on Wednesday closed 0.29 per cent higher at Rs 393.15 on the BSE.