Asian Paints sees scope to reinvent amid continuing global uncertainties

Chairman Deepak Satwalekar tells investors at AGM that the firm's network penetration and brand strength saw its decorative business deliver 31% growth by volume and 36% by value in FY22

Asian Paints expects uncertainties to continue with ever changing and dynamic macro-economic, geopolitical and environmental situations.

The company sees opportunities amid these uncertainties to “reinvent and reinvigorate” its passion to fulfil the aspirations of its customers, Deepak Satwalekar, chairman of Asian Paints told its shareholders in his speech at the company’s annual general meeting.

“I am certain that team Asian Paints would continue to harness these opportunities and will continue to deliver joy to all its stakeholders,” Satwalekar said.

He also said, “Today, the uncertainty in the environment has again increased, fueled by changing macroeconomic dynamics and geopolitical turbulence. However, amidst these uncertainties, your company continues to strive forward with a strong growth trajectory under the leadership of Amit Syngle (MD & CEO).

Satwalekar also said that Syngle delivered exceptional performance in the coatings business--both industrial and decorative--and has also propelled the company towards becoming a strong home décor brand.

He told shareholders that the last financial year was one of recovery from the lows of the earlier pandemic year--a year of renewed optimism in the economy. However, it came with its own set of challenges that increased inflationary pressures, brought on by the two waves of Covid-19.

The 2021-22 fiscal was marked by the start of the second wave of the pandemic, which impacted demand recovery. Asian Paints' operations made a quick recovery due to the firm's learnings from the first wave and through continuous efforts that the paint major made to raise the customer value proposition across product categories and price points.

“While inflation headwinds impacted our margins, we took a series of price increases along with cost optimisation measures to mitigate the impact, recovering the margins sequentially over the quarters,” Satwalekar said. Adding, “Our network penetration initiatives, complemented by brand strength, opened allied avenues of distribution in the markets. Overall, our decorative business delivered a volume growth of 31 per cent and strong value growth of 36 per cent for the year.”

During the year, it launches 29 new products across the range which the company expects will become future growth levers. The company's launches was led by Royale Glitz, an ultra-luxury emulsion paint.