Profit before tax in Q4 FY21 stood at Rs 171.25 crore, up 73.9% from Rs 98.45 crore in Q4 FY20. EBIDTA in Q4 FY21 stood at Rs 203 crore, a growth of 59.1% over Q4 FY20.

The company reported 0.7% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 539.03 crore on 5.3% fall in net sales to Rs 4655.69 crore in the year ended 31 March 2021 over the year ended 31 March 2021.

For the financial year EBITDA was at Rs 833 crore, a growth of 6.6% over FY 2019-20.

The company's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 4 per share, which includes special dividend of Rs 2 per share for the year.

Commenting on the results, H. M. Bharuka, vice chairman and managing director, Kansai Nerolac Paints, said, “The quarter saw continued strong demand for both Decorative and Industrial Paints. Both Decorative and Industrial witnessed high double-digit volume growth in the quarter. However, this number should be read on the low base of March last year when lockdown was announced.

The continued aggressive cost control program along with judicious management of overheads helped the company report a strong growth in EBITDA. RM prices has shown a very steep to rise during the quarter, and this has resulted in a sharp increase in material costs. Full impact of this is yet to be seen due to inventory. Inflation is likely to continue along with continued volatility in forex rates and supply chain tightness.

The company has already taken some price increase. Further increases will be taken going forward to compensate for the inflation.

Looking forward, the company is optimistic that demand would gain momentum, though in the short term the effect of the COVID 2nd wave has impacted demand across.”

In its outlook for the paint industry, the company said that the size of domestic paint industry is estimated at Rs 54,000 crore as of March 2021. The good growth in infrastructure, core sector as well as automobile and real estate is likely to have a positive effect on the overall demand of paint for the industry in the long run.

Kansai Nerolac Paints is a paint manufacturing company that offers a wide spectrum of quality paints. The company has six strategically located manufacturing units all over India and a strong dealer network across the country. It manufactures a diversified range of products ranging from decorative paints coatings for homes, offices, hospitals and hotels to sophisticated industrial coatings for most of the industries.

The scrip shed 0.20% to end at Rs 590.95 on the BSE on Friday.