Buzzing Stocks: Asian Paints, Berger Paints rise on reports of price hike

This is reportedly the sharpest price increase ever taken by the paint companies.

Stocks of paint companies such as Asian Paints and Berger Paints were trading in the green in the early trade on Wednesday on market reports that the companies have increased the prices across their portfolio to combat rising input costs. 

Asian Paints, the market leader in the decorative paints segment, reportedly hiked the prices by 7-10 per cent, effective from November 12, said market reports. While Berger Paints also has hiked prices by high-single digits. 

According to Amit Syngle, CEO of Asian Paints, the present inflationary pressure has never been seen by the company in the last 40 years and the problem has worsened with issues surrounding raw material procurement and higher freight cost. 

Asian Paints September-quarter earnings missed estimates on account of higher input costs even as demand rose. The company management said that it has taken a series of price increases in FY21 and it would look at a further price increase to mitigate the impact of this persistently high inflation. Aided by the price hikes, the company were confident that it should be able to turn around strongly in the next quarter. 

By noon on Wednesday, Asian Paints was trading at Rs 3088, up by 4.21 per cent or Rs 124.85 per share. While, Berger Paints had pared some of its gains and was trading at Rs 738.15, up by 0.74 per cent or Rs 5.45 per share on the BSE. In comparison, the broad market index was up by 0.17 per cent.