Shares of Asian Paints Limited touched a day high of Rs 2,302.00 on 29 October as it reported a 7% rise in Q2 profit and declared a dividend.

The paint maker told exchanges that consolidated profit for the July to September quarter came in at Rs 1,068 crore, up from Rs 994 crore a year earlier.

Revenue climbed 17% to Rs 9,977 crore. Costs, though, ate into the gains.

Raw material prices jumped this year, and supply problems linked to geopolitical tensions made some inputs hard to get.

The company said the full effect landed in this quarter. Operating profit (EBITDA) rose just 3.6% to Rs 1,557 crore, and its margin slipped to 15.6% from 17.6% a year ago.

Asian Paints chose to soak up part of the price rise instead of passing all of it on to customers, to protect demand, and it plans more staggered price increases alongside tighter cost control.

Demand held up. Its domestic coatings business grew sales value by 16.4%, with 6.8% more paint sold by quantity.

Decorative paints, used on homes, grew 14.5% in value and 6.4% in quantity, while industrial coatings jumped 31.8% in value.

Overseas sales rose 29.5% to Rs 1,095.6 crore, but pre-tax profit from that business fell 31% to Rs 52.7 crore.

The board declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.75 per share. Shareholders on the record date of 4 November qualify, with payment on or after 13 November.

In the June quarter, profit had jumped 40% to Rs 1,539 crore, so Q2 profit is down about 30% from that level.

The company also commissioned the first phase of a vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) plant at Dahej.

Managing Director Amit Syngle said it would help product development and cost competitiveness.

Asian Paints closed at Rs 2,302.00 on the NSE, up by Rs 17.40 or 0.76% from the previous close of Rs 2,284.60.

The close was also the day’s high, after a low of Rs 2,217.10 earlier in the session. It’s still down 4.68% over the past month, as per NSE data.

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