Akzo Nobel India Limited — Q3 FY26
Akzo Nobel India reported Q3 FY26 revenue of ₹907.7 crore, down ~1% YoY, impacted by the carve-out of powder coatings and IRC businesses (approx.
bullish
medium
Financial stats pending filing verification
Claim Ledger
Did management answer the analysts?
Every material analyst question, graded on whether management actually answered it — with the verbatim exchange and quantitative claims checked against filed numbers.
75%Questions answered2Evaded / deflected12Questions auditedMixedNumbers vs filing
Answered
High priority
Demand outlook for Q4 and volume growth vs sales gap.
Asked by Abnish Roy, Noama
Management gave a clear affirmative with reasoning.
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Question
So how do you see Q4 because the other paint companies are saying that Q4 is likely to be better than Q3 in terms of volume in terms of deco. Would you also share similar thoughts?
Rajiv (Managing Director)
Yes, Amish very much. ... In my view this quarter unless there are again any external events ... it should be a pretty strong quarter from a volume perspective.
Answered
High priority
Volume growth vs sales gap and competitive intensity outlook.
Asked by Abnish Roy, Noama
Provided specific range and explained reasons.
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Question
What is the gap you're seeing between the volume growth and sales?
Rajiv (Managing Director)
From an industry perspective we expect it to be between five and six ... we will be at about maybe 1 or 2% a little higher in terms of the volume value gap for about a couple of quarters.
Answered
High priority
Whether competitive intensity has peaked or will continue.
Asked by Abnish Roy, Noama
Gave a clear timeline and reasoning.
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Question
Would you say that worst of the promotional intensity competition intensity is now kind of at the end or you think that this can continue at least in the next few quarters?
Rajiv (Managing Director)
Personally what I would love to believe is that the worst is behind us but ... it will still take a two three quarters for it to really play out.
Evasive
High priority
Revenue synergies from JSW Paints and Dulux combination.
Asked by Manoj Men, IC Securities
Acknowledged question but declined specifics, citing early stage and confidentiality.
too earlyconfidentialitydeferred to later
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Question
If you could just talk a bit about the revenue synergies ... Dulux brand gaining from the JSW paint distribution or vice versa.
Rajiv (Managing Director)
It's a little too early for me to talk ... there are obviously certain elements of confidentiality ... at a very high level ... Dulux has got markets where we've got greater than 10 15% market share.
Evasive
Medium priority
Integration aspects on people and culture side.
Asked by Manoj Men, IC Securities
Gave generalities but no concrete integration details.
early daysno specificsanalogy used
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Question
If you could talk a bit about the integration aspect on the people side of it, the culture side of it.
Rajiv (Managing Director)
Look, I think for people ... there is a reality check ... we've been given a very warm welcome ... very early days ... it's a difficult question to answer.
Answered
High priority
Decorative volume growth, cash levels, royalty usage, and success markers.
Asked by Lakshmi Naran, Tunga Investments
Provided specific numbers for volume growth, cash, and royalty savings.
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Question
First is just want to understand from a decorative volume growth 9 months to last 9 months like for like what has been the volume growth. Second question is that what is the cash levels we actually carry right now approximately and the third is you talked about royalty.
Krishna (CFO) and Rajiv (Managing Director)
9 months would be between 1 and 2%. ... cash position is ballpark roughly around 200 to 225 crores of free cash. ... royalty cease to exist which translates to roughly around 60 to 65 crores ... committed to redeploy towards growth initiatives.
Partial answer
High priority
Markers of success over the next three years.
Asked by Lakshmi Naran, Tunga Investments
Gave directional goals but no specific numeric targets.
no quantitative targetsqualitative only
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Question
What will you call as markers of success for you and the management ... it could be market share it could be revenue growth or it could be margins or ROC.
Rajiv (Managing Director)
Success for first and foremost ... we are clear number four now ... the quick clarity is to say that how do we quickly move to number three and then beyond.
Answered
Medium priority
Employee expenses decline QoQ and business model change to direct distribution.
Asked by Pratik Goi, HSBC
Addressed both questions with explanations.
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Question
Employee expenses were down I think 55 million quarter and quarter. ... are we thinking about changing the business model to becoming a direct distribution play?
Krishna (CFO) and Rajiv (Managing Director)
It's a combination of the iteration and then the refill rate of the company and there is no structural change per se. ... There will be a combination and they will also continue to be our distributors.
Answered
Medium priority
Competitive intensity in different segments.
Asked by Pratik Goi, HSBC
Clearly differentiated between segments.
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Question
Do you see higher competition in the economy segment ... or premium segment for example?
Rajiv (Managing Director)
Where all the new players have been able to really impact is in the mass and the below ... in premium I don't think that the order is really reversed.
Answered
Medium priority
Near-term growth drivers and medium-term strategy for coatings.
Asked by Runay Zogrear, Asit Ma investment
Provided specific growth levers and strategic focus.
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Question
In the near term what will really drive the growth? ... And the second part is just on the medium-term what strategy you're thinking about from the quotings strategy.
Rajiv (Managing Director)
In quotings we've been playing largely in the premium space while we entered the mid market ... our real focus is around R&D ensuring technical expertise.
Partial answer
High priority
Margin outlook with royalty savings and brand strategy post-merger.
Asked by Anirut Zoshi
Gave a margin range but no commitment; brand strategy deferred.
no precise margin guidancebrand strategy unclear
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Question
How should we think about the margins? ... will the brand shift to JSW Dulux or it will remain Dulux?
Rajiv (Managing Director) and Krishna (CFO)
Without synergy our endeavors to be in that band of ... between 14 and a half to 15 ... the brand work is just about to commence.
Answered
High priority
Guard rails to protect brand and profitability while scaling up.
Asked by Akshai Krishnan, ICICA securities
Provided multiple guardrails and strategic priorities.
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Question
What will be the guard rails that you'll be looking at ... which means that you'll protect yourself despite having a slower growth?
Rajiv (Managing Director)
The guardrail would be to make sure that ... we are not dialing in into one area or one vector of growth ... we continue our focus in terms of innovation.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decorative volume growth 8% in December | 8% | -1% | Overstated vs filing |
| Volume growth for 9 months like-for-like 1-2% | 1.5% | -1% | Overstated vs filing |
| EBITDA margin band 14-15% | 14.5% | 14.9% | Matches filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.