Berger Paints on Wednesday recorded its fiscal fourth quarter profit at Rs 222.62 crore, up 19.7 crore in comparison to Rs 186.01 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 2,520.28 crore, up 3.1 per cent on-year as against Rs 2,443.63 crore during the fourth quarter of previous year. The company EBITDA was down 4.8 per cent at Rs 361.1 crore.
The company board also recommended for payment of dividend of Rs 3.50 (350 per cent) per equity share of the face value of Re 1 each fully paid-up for the financial year 2023-24.
For the full year, Berger Paints recorded revenue from operations at Rs 11,198.9 crore, up 6 per cent in comparison to Rs 10,567.8 crore in the corresponding financial year. Profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 stood at Rs 1169.8 crore, up 36 per cent as against Rs 860.4 crore during the previous financial year. EBITDA for the year was at Rs 1861.3 crore, up 25.2 per cent over the corresponding period of last financial year at Rs 1487.2 crore.
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director & CEO of Berger Paints India Limited, said, “We gained market share again in FY24 and as a milestone crossed Rs 10,000 crore in revenue and PAT of Rs 1000 crore on a standalone basis, a significant event on our 100th year in India. Our Q4FY24 sales were at a healthy double digit volume growth. The value growth was adversely impacted by a massive 4%+ price reduction in the year, an increased contribution of high-volume low value products and a lower than expected sale in the luxury segment from the anticipation of a price reduction in this segment.”
On the profitability front in Q4FY24, while the gross margins were maintained, the EBITDA reduced due to the one-off effect of subsidy received in Q4FY23, negative operating leverage on account of fixed cost on lower value base and the incremental operating cost of the new Sandila plant as well as the conscious call taken on brand building efforts leading to an increased advertisement expenditure, said Abhijit Roy.
“On the whole the company did much better on an annual basis for FY24 delivering a stellar double digit improvement in profitability with all the business lines delivering well with strong double digit volume growths and improvements in profitability especially in the industrial segment. We continue to be focussed on the waterproofing and construction chemicals segment where we saw exceptional growths this year and expect this trend to continue in the years ahead. We remain confident of an improved demand scenario in the upcoming year and have prepared for the same with the launch of multiple innovative new products in the paint, coatings and waterproofing segments to ensure that we provide relevant solutions to the changing needs of our customers,” he added.