Asian Paints Ltd joined its peers to flag the West Asia war as a near-term uncertainty on demand, even as the country’s largest paintmaker reported revenue from operations ahead of Street estimates.
“The external environment remains fluid, with the West Asia conflict contributing to near-term uncertainty in demand,” Amit Syngle, managing director and chief executive officer of Asian Paints, said in a company statement.
The company has taken a price hike close to about 10.5-11.0%, said Syngle during a post-earnings interaction with analysts on Friday.
While input cost pressures remain elevated, the company indicated it is not passing on the full burden to customers. “The overall impact is much higher, maybe closer to about 20%. We have passed on around 11%…and we don’t intend to pass on the entire impact so that we are able to maintain a balance between inflation in the market and what we can absorb,” Syngle added.
Berger Paints has warned that the Gulf conflict could fuel inflation and may lead to some softening demand, while Kansai Nerolac said demand visibility remains uncertain amid the inflationary environment, adopting a wait-and-watch stance.
The paintmaker’s revenue from operations rose by 5% to ₹35,583.54 crore in fiscal 2026 compared to ₹33,905.62 crore in FY25, according to the company’s exchange filings. The net income beat the expectations of 35 analysts polled by Bloomberg, who estimated a revenue of ₹35,195.65 crore.
In FY26, the company’s profit attributable to owners of the company rose by 18% to ₹4,325.35 crore compared to ₹3,667.23 crore in FY25, according to the company’s exchange filings.
Fierce competition
On the competitive front, Asian Paints expects intensity to remain high. “The competitive intensity in the market is going to be strong…we have newer competition and existing players are equally intense. We feel that this intensity will continue in the year ahead,” he said, adding that discounting pressures persist despite price hikes.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) rose to ₹6,695.92 crore in FY26 from ₹6,006.21 crore in FY25.
Looking ahead, the company said it will rely on a mix of calibrated pricing, cost efficiencies and premiumisation to sustain margins. “We will continue to take calibrated price increases…while also working strongly on cost efficiencies…so that we are able to retain our overall margin guidance,” Syngle said.
Even so, management acknowledged that the operating environment remains challenging. “It is not going to be easy…but the endeavour is to remain within the margin band through a combination of pricing, mix improvement and cost efficiencies,” he added.
The company’s volume growth was 8.7% and value growth of 4.3% for FY26, largely due to an unfavourable product mix and discounts, according to analysts.
“Asian Paints reported strong profit growth in FY26, driven largely by cost-efficiency measures, and management sees FY27 as a potential inflection point as recent price hikes begin to flow through. The company expects revenue growth to pick up, supported by these price increases, while the gap between volume and value growth is likely to narrow going forward,” said Amit Purohit, senior vice president of Elara Securities.
Despite the earnings beat, Purohit flagged that the demand picture remains unclear, weighed down by geopolitical risk from the West Asia war. Price competition shows no sign of easing, with players continuing to discount heavily in an already uncertain market.
The Mumbai-headquartered paintmaker reported an 11% year-on-year rise in revenue from operations to ₹9,246.70 crore in Q4FY26, while net profit surged 69% to ₹1,172.12 crore from ₹692.13 crore a year ago.
Shares of Asian Paints ended 0.6% down at ₹2,688, while the Nifty 50 closed 1.5% down on Friday.
