Image Credit: Sight Machine
Asian Paints, the country’s leading paint company assumes an “uncertainty in demand” in its services. As per the company’s latest annual report, the interruption in its operations in the wake of second wave of COVID-19 may lead to an uncertainty in demand in its home improvement categories including paints. Besides this, the company is also worried about the inflationary pressure on the input materials in its product segment. In the fiscal year 2020-21, Asian paints had set out Rs 18,516.9 crore revenue from its operations.
The company in its management discussions and analysis stated, “There has been re-imposition of restrictions on business activity in many states and this has again disrupted operations of our vast supply chain network. This is expected to lead to uncertainty in demand in larger home improvement categories, including paints.” It further stated that though the economic growth is expected to bounce back strongly in 2021-2022 on global as well as domestic fronts but a lot would hinge on how the pandemic plays out, given the resurgence of the virus and the spread of infections.
The company provides its services in home improvement and decor segment, offers bath and kitchen products. In recent times, Asian paints has introduced lightings, furnishings and furniture in its portfolio. In its health and hygiene front, the company provides a range of sanitizers and surface disinfectants. The company operates in 14 countries with 26 paint manufacturing facilities in the world. It offers services to almost 60 countries.
On the inflation in commodity prices, Asian paints informed that input materials in its product segment across geographies have risen “significantly” since the last quarter of 2020-2021 and continues to be in the uptrend. The company revealed, “The challenges to the business posed by this inflationary pressure and the uncertain market conditions would place a strong emphasis on managing the business in a dynamic manner and altering operational priorities to suit changing market conditions.”
Asian Paints informed that the roll out of vaccination drive across the major economies, including India, in the last quarter of 2020-21 has accorded a much needed boost to sentiments around a sustained recovery of economic activity across the globe. The Managing director and CEO Amit Syngle affirmed, “It will take some time to deliver results as a large cross section of population will need to be vaccinated before the spread of the virus can be curbed.” He further added, ” We will also have to anticipate intermittent business restrictions and disruptions to supply chain networks for some time.”
About the year 2020-21 , Amit Syngle said, “Asian paints not only adopted norms, addressing the emerging realities, but also remained in the pursuit of its long term strategic objective that would enable it to deliver sustainable growth.”