Asian Paints soar 9.2 percent

Bangalore: After ending the trading at Rs.1,677, Asian Paints emerged as one of the top gainers today on BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) with a loss of Rs.140.85 (9.2 percent). The stock of Asian Paints opened 49.80 points up to the previous close of Rs. 1,530.20 and touched 52-week high value of Rs.1,707 in the afternoon trade. In all, 86,694 shares were traded throughout the day, with a current P/E ratio at 28.64. With 470,000 units of shares, 'Franklin India Bluechip Fund' holds the largest number of shares in Asian Paints. The stock chart for 52-week is given on left.

Asian Paints is an India-based paint company. The company operates in 20 countries and has 28 paint manufacturing facilities in the world servicing consumers in over 65 countries. The company's paints include ancillaries, automotive, decorative and industrial. It operates in the non-auto industrial coatings segment through its growth business unit and a wholly owned subsidiary, Asian Paints Industrial Coatings. The company's other business comprises of plants manufacturing phthalic anhydride and pentaerythritol, located at Ankleshwar (Gujarat) and Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) respectively. These products are used in the manufacture of alkyd resins, as well as several products in other industries. In the second quarter ended September 30, 2009, the company's net profit rose to Rs.2.54 billion from Rs.1.22 billion a year earlier. Net sales of the company rose by 18.6 percent to Rs.13.86 billion from Rs.11.69 billion.

Other paint companies have also ended the trading in green zone. Berger Paints India soared 6.25 percent, Kansai Nerolac Paints moved up 3.06 percent, ICI India gained 0.21 percent and Clariant Chemicals zoomed 1.66 percent.

Out of 17 stock analysts currently following Asian Paints, consensus recommendation is outperform. Out of them seven recommend to buy the stock, whereas three suggested to hold and one rated it as underperform.