Berger Paints sees strong demand, monsoon driving growth in FY27

Berger Paints India Ltd has started 2026-27 on a strong footing and expects improving domestic demand, a favourable monsoon and the full impact of recent price hikes to support growth through the rest of the fiscal, even as competition remains intense and raw material prices remain volatile.

Berger Paints' consolidated net profit attributable to owners rose 29% year-on-year to ₹404.34 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, from ₹314.63 crore a year ago, according to the company's stock exchange filing. The figure beat the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹390.24 crore, based on 15 analyst estimates.

Revenue from operations rose 12% to ₹3,583.75 crore, also ahead of the Bloomberg consensus estimate of ₹3,606.4 crore based on a 16-analyst estimate.

Strong outlook

The company expects double-digit revenue growth to continue through the year as the full benefit of price increases flows through from the September quarter. Berger also expects festive demand, distribution expansion and a well-progressing monsoon to improve consumer sentiment, particularly in rural markets.

Berger Paints realized an effective price increase of about 5% in the June quarter, with the benefit expected to rise to 7.5%-8% in the September quarter as staggered price hikes, including increases of up to 12%-13% on certain products, fully flow through, said managing director and chief executive Abhijit Roy during the company's post-earnings conference call.

“The second quarter revenue growth might be slightly ahead of the first quarter revenue growth. The volume growth will be somewhere around similar levels as quarter one, slightly below maybe, around 7.5% to 8%,” Roy told analysts on Wednesday. In Q1, the company reported 8.4% volume growth.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), excluding other income, climbed 15% to ₹607.4 crore.

Roy said demand momentum that emerged in the previous quarter carried into the first quarter, helping the company deliver 12.7% value growth despite a volatile operating environment.

"Our performance this quarter was driven by strong growth in both the automotive and decorative segments," Roy said.

The company said the West Asia war disrupted crude supplies and pushed up prices of crude-based raw materials, resulting in some pressure on gross margins. However, tighter cost controls and operational efficiencies helped it maintain operating margins above its guided range.

“It was a positive start to the new year in spite of the unsettled environment resulting from the conflict in West Asia, which led to disruptions in the availability and prices of crude and impacted crude-based raw materials,” Roy said in a statement.

Berger's larger rival and market leader, Asian Paints, reported a 40% rise in net profit attributable to owners to ₹1,539.3 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, up from ₹1,099.8 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations increased 17.9% to ₹10,541.9 crore.

“The biggest positive surprise this quarter is that the industry is seeing price increases while volumes continue to hold up. That's an ideal combination from an earnings perspective. Even Birla Opus has taken price hikes to protect gross margins, said Manoj Menon, head of research at ICICI Securities.

Menon added that competition remains intense, but companies are not sacrificing profitability to gain market share, which is healthy for the industry's overall profit pool.

High input cost

Despite multiple rounds of price increases to offset higher input costs, Berger does not expect demand to weaken materially.

“We should be able to maintain that. We are taking many initiatives on our side to increase volumes... We do not see a downside risk there in terms of volume growth,” Roy said, citing network expansion, branding initiatives and new product launches.

The company also expects margins to improve on a year-on-year basis in the September quarter, helped by higher operating leverage, a better sales mix and delayed price hikes in its industrial coatings business beginning to take effect.

However, Berger cautioned that raw material prices remain highly volatile due to geopolitical developments, making it difficult to predict pricing decisions for the second half of the fiscal year.

“If the raw material prices do go down substantially and there is peace finally, then one can look at a price cut going into the second half. But as of now, it is very difficult to see,” Roy said.

The company also acknowledged that competitive intensity remains elevated despite some easing in dealer incentives offered by newer entrants.

Berger believes it continued to gain market share despite the industry leader reporting faster growth, attributing the difference to a higher base in the year-ago period.

Berger Paints closed 2.18% higher on Wednesday after the company announced its results at 3:12pm. The shares outperformed the benchmark Sensex, which ended 0.19% higher.