Asian Paints Limited

Company Profile
Publication Date: 7 May 2010

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Asian Paints Limited

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Asian Paints Limited

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Company Overview..............................................................................................4 Key Facts...............................................................................................................4 Business Description...........................................................................................5 History...................................................................................................................6 Key Employees.....................................................................................................7 Major Products and Services..............................................................................8 Top Competitors...................................................................................................9 Company View.....................................................................................................10 Locations and Subsidiaries...............................................................................12

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Asian Paints Limited

Company Overview

COMPANY OVERVIEW
Asian Paints is an India based paint company engaged in manufacturing decorative coatings. Asian Paints along with its subsidiaries has operations in 18 countries across the world and 26 paint manufacturing facilities, servicing consumers in 65 countries through Berger International, SCIB Paints-Egypt, Asian Paints, Apco Coatings and Taubmans. The company primarily operates in Asia, Australasia, the Caribbean, Europe and North Africa. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India and employs around 4,260 people. The company recorded revenues of INR54,632.3 million (approximately $1192.1 million) in the fiscal year ended March 2009, an increase of 24% over 2008.The company's operating profit was INR6,467 million (approximately $141.1 million) in fiscal 2009, a decrease of 2.2% compared to 2008. Its net profit was INR3,978.4 million (approximately $86.8 million) in fiscal 2009, a decrease of 2.8% compared to 2008.

KEY FACTS
Head Office Asian Paints Limited Asian Paints House 6A Shantinagar Santacruz East Mumbai 400055 IND 91 22 3981 8000 91 22 3981 8888 http://www.asianpaints.com

Phone Fax Web Address

Revenue / turnover 54,632.3 (INR Mn) Financial Year End Employees Bombay Stock Exchange Ticker National Stock Exchange of India Ticker March 4,260 500820 ASIANPAINT

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Asian Paints Limited

Business Description

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Asian Paints Limited is an industrial and decorative paints and coatings company. The company operates in Asia, Australasia, the Caribbean, Europe and North Africa. The company operates six subsidiaries which include: Apco Coatings, Taubmans Paints, Berger International, Asian paints Industrial Coatings, Asian PPG Industries, and SCIB Paints. Apco Coatings is a subsidiary of Asian Paints in the South Pacific islands. Asian Paints operates in Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu under the brand name of Apco Coatings. Asian Paints Industrial Coatings caters to the powder coatings market in the industrial coatings market. Asian PPG Industries, a joint venture between Asian Paints (India), and PPG Industries, the US. Taubmans Paints Fiji, has two manufacturing facilities, one in Suva (Fiji) and the other in Samoa. SCIB operates in Egypt. Berger operates internationally with its manufacturing and operational facilities present in Middle East, Caribbean and South East Asia. Asian Paints manufactures a range of decorative coating and industrial coating products, as well as resins and emulsions. The company's product groups are; interior wall paints, exterior wall paints, door and window paints, furniture paints, metal paints, and ancillaries. The company has a number of online facilities to help customers choose a shade, including an online shade card, an online coloring tool and online trial rooms, which allow virtual rooms to be painted in different shades.

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Asian Paints Limited

History

HISTORY
Asian Paints (API) was founded in 1942 as the Asian Oil & Paint Company. Four associates formed the company to manufacture paint from a garage in Bombay, India. In 2000, API entered the Middle Eastern market, formally beginning manufacturing operations in Oman. The new division processed paint under the name Asian Paints (Middle East). In the same year, API also expanded its geographical operations with the purchase of Pacific Paints, a paint business in Australia. API acquired the powder coatings business of Hawcoplast Chemical for INR160 million in 2001. In 2002, further international expansion was made by the company. It entered the Egyptian market with the acquisition of a controlling stake in Scib Chemicals. In the same year API also began operations in Bangladesh, marking its eleventh joint venture in international markets and its largest green-field venture in overseas markets. In 2002, the company entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Berger International, a holding company incorporated in Singapore. Asian Paints through its subsidiary in Fiji, Asian Paints acquired Taubmans Paints in 2003. In the same year, Asian Paints received 9.2% stake held by the Government of India in ICI. In 2006, API commissioned a new manufacturing facility in Baddi, India which would be used exclusively to manufacture industrial coatings. In the same year, Berger International Limited, a subsidiary of Asian Paints, entered into a conditional stock purchase agreement to sell its stake in Dutch Boy Philippines. Asian PPG Industries, which is a 50:50 joint venture of Asian Paints acquired the 2k auto refinish business of ICI India in 2007. In April 2009, the company appointed P.M. Murty as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. In April 2010, the company announced the commencement of commercial production at its new paint manufacturing facility in Rohtak, Haryana.

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Asian Paints Limited

Key Employees

KEY EMPLOYEES
Name
P M Murty Ashwin Choksi Ashwin S Dani Abhay A Vakil Mahendra Choksi Amar A Vakil Hasit Dani Tarjani Vakil Deepak M Satwalekar Dipankar Basu Rajendra A Shah Swaminathan Sivaram Mahendra M Shah Jayesh Merchant

Job Title
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chairman Vice Chairman Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director

Board
Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board Non Executive Board

Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary Senior Management

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Asian Paints Limited

Major Products and Services

MAJOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Asian Paints manufactures and markets industrial and decorative coatings. The company's key products and brands include the following: Products: Interior wall paints Exterior wall paints Doors and window paints Furniture paints Metals paints Industrial coatings Brands: Ace Apcolite Apex Apex Ultima Asian Paints Colour Next Premium Gloss Enamel Royale Royale Play Touchwood Tractor Emulsion Utsav

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Asian Paints Limited

Top Competitors

TOP COMPETITORS

The following companies are the major competitors of Asian Paints Limited

ICI India Limited Berger Paints India Limited Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.

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Asian Paints Limited

Company View

COMPANY VIEW
A statement by Ashwin Choksi, Chairman of the Board at Asian Paints is given below. The statement has been taken from the companys 2009 annual report. Dear Shareholders, These are extraordinary times that we are living in! All major economies of the world are under severe stress because of the collapse of their economic growth. The dramatic scale and speed of the global financial tsunami has far exceeded anybodys imagination. The policy response across countries to stall the downward spiral has been unprecedented. How the economies would react to these stimuli and when they would stabilize is anybodys guess. A similar theme has been underway in India, emphasizing the fact that we are well and truly coupled with the global environment. There has been a demand slowdown impacting both, exports as well as domestic consumption. Services sector, especially IT, has been severely impacted due to the protectionist policies now being resorted to in developed world. The domestic credit market has also seen a relative freeze, raising the funding cost for corporates. The Government of Indias stimulus packages, to spur economic activity, has led to widening of fiscal and trade deficits. All this has meant that the surging Indian economy has seen a relative slowdown in 2008-09 and in all probability will grow at around 6.5% compared to 9% in 2007-08. The global financial turmoil has had an adverse impact even in other markets where the group operates in, especially in the Gulf region. It has also resulted in extreme volatility in exchange rates as well as commodity and chemical prices. Crude oil prices spiraled to dizzy height and then crashed with the same ferocity, key raw materials like pigments and monomers saw major increase in prices. Rupee exhibited extreme volatility and traded between high of Rs. 39 to the US$ and low of Rs. 52 to the US$ during the year. These extreme conditions necessitated drastic reactions. In the domestic market, paint prices had to be increased six times and then reduced thrice, which has been unprecedented. In these difficult times, your Company has done well to grow its consolidated sales by 24% in value terms to Rs. 5463 crores in FY 2008-09. After a very buoyant first half, demand conditions were sluggish in the third quarter of FY 2008-09. But the speed with which we were able to recover in the fourth quarter has only strengthened my confidence in our ability to take things in our stride. We consciously pursued a strategy of growth with reduced margins in domestic paints business. Consequently, the consolidated PAT after minority interest for the full year reduced by 2.8% to Rs. 398 crores Over the years, we have successfully undertaken several initiatives in line with our basic strategy of adopting a more consumer centric approach for meeting the customers ever changing expectations. We have been building on the strong existing dealer network to provide a more appropriate shopping ambience and expertise in colour and decor marketing to the consumers. A prime example of this

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Asian Paints Limited

Company View

approach is our Colour with Asian Paints, the international award winning and unique Asian Paints Signature Store in Bandra (West), Mumbai, which I would urge each one of you to visit and get inspired by. In my letter to you as early as in June 1999, I had mentioned that Companies with good board governance practices are regarded as companies with shareholder value focus where long term values are not sacrificed at the altar of short term returns. The truth of this statement was brought home rudely when gigantic corporations crumbled and investors lost their confidence in them due to their disregard for good corporate governance practices and lack of openness, integrity and accountability. This has not only vindicated our long standing belief in fostering the principles of trust and transparency within the organization, but has made our resolve to purse this path even stronger. Looking ahead, the world economy is expected to witness contraction in 2009. Given the inter-link with global markets, growth in India would depend on how the global scenario unfolds. The decisive mandate in the national general elections would help in allaying the fears of political instability and would boost the sentiments in the domestic economy. The GDP growth forecast for India is being placed between 5-6%. Paint demand would depend on the overall economic situation, which is currently reasonably buoyant in Tier II and Tier III towns. Growth would be a challenge in the industrial and automotive paints segment while the chemical business would continue to be managed for value. In the International markets, the strategy would be to review the portfolio and grow the top line with focus on profitability and credit risk. Middle East and South Asia regions are expected to drive growth performance. An organizations future is as certain as its ability to mould itself to the changing environment. A disposition to change thus signals a potential to grow. Hence, in this dynamically changing environment, the Board of your Company took a momentous decision of appointing Mr. P. M. Murty, an Asian Paints veteran of 38 years, as the Managing Director & CEO with effect from 1st April, 2009. It is a change that represents the ongoing process of corporate transformation in response to the contextual realities. It is also a change that ensures continuity and further enhances the symbiotic relationship between the entrepreneurs and the professionals towards delivering stakeholder value with highest levels of corporate governance. I am confident that your Company, under the able leadership of Mr. P. M. Murty, will convert adversities into opportunities and continue its forward surge. This confidence also arises from the knowledge that your Company has an immensely talented pool of people at all levels who have withstood the challenges of the ever changing environment and have contributed consistently to the remarkable growth of your Company. Last but not the least, I along with my colleagues, thank you for your continued support and confidence shown during all these years, which have been a source of great inspiration to us.

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Asian Paints Limited

Locations and Subsidiaries

LOCATIONS AND SUBSIDIARIES

Head Office
Asian Paints Limited Asian Paints House 6A Shantinagar Santacruz East Mumbai 400055 IND P:91 22 3981 8000 F:91 22 3981 8888 http://www.asianpaints.com

Other Locations and Subsidiaries

Asian Paints (Nepal) Pvt. Limited NPL Asian Paints Industrial Coatings Limited IND Asian Paints (International) Limited IND Technical Instruments Manufacturers (India) Limited IND Apco Coatings IND Taubmans Paints FJI

Maxbhumi Developers Limited IND SCIB Paints IND

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