Berger Paints (I) Limited — Q1 FY25
Berger Paints reported a mixed Q1 FY25 with 11.8% volume growth but only 2.4% value growth, as price cuts and mix shift to lower-value products weighed.
neutral
medium
✓ Verified against BSE filing
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.
85%Questions answered0Evaded / deflected10Questions auditedMixedNumbers vs filing
Answered
High priority
Who is losing market share and is Berger's share gain sustainable?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nuvama
Management identified Asian Paints as losing share and quantified Berger's expected gain.
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Question
So wanted to understand, who is losing market share? Is it the market leader or is it the number three or number four player? And is this sustainable?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
Asian has lost in the first quarter little bit because of the results which has happened this quarter for them, and it has been gained by two, three other players. ... our market share, we have been gaining year-on-year by 0.3%-0.5%, and this year also, we are likely to gain by 0.5%-0.6%.
Partial answer
High priority
Has the new entrant (Indigo Paints) forced Berger to change tinting machines, discounts, warranty, or grammage?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nuvama
Answered on grammage but avoided specifics on tinting machines, discounts, and warranty.
did not address tinting machine or warranty changes
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Question
in terms of tinting machine or say discounts, or say, in terms of the warranty, or extra grammage, is there any demand from the end customer or the painter or the dealer to you? Or do you envisage because these are early days, would you need to do any tweak in those four aspects?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
I am told that it has been stopped already, you know, recently. So, a part of that saving, which they have, is possibly being reallocated, to the painters, in terms of extra payout. ... they have stopped this, you know, in some of the markets at least, this free stock, you know, which, which they were giving, the 10% extra.
Answered
Medium priority
Has the new entrant's tinting machine live data capability changed competitive dynamics?
Asked by Abneesh Roy, Nuvama
Directly dismissed the competitive advantage of live data from tinting machines.
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Question
And on those four aspects, Abhijit, the tinting machine, the size and the live talking it does with the headquarters.
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
I don't think that makes any difference to the competitive, you know, scenario at all, and it's no great advantage because everyone, I think, Asian also gets that information, so it's not something which is different.
Partial answer
High priority
Why did gross margins hold up despite value-volume gap and price cuts?
Asked by Karthik Chellappa, Indus Capital
Agreed with the premise but did not quantify the contribution of low-cost inventory vs mix.
did not quantify low-cost inventory benefitattributed to mix but no numbers
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Question
Now, despite all this, our gross margins year-on-year have held up pretty well. Would you attribute all of this just to the low-cost inventory, or are there any other factors at play?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
So, you know, what you are saying is right, absolutely. ... just because it is high volume and low value does not mean mix that the margin is, you know, not strong. The margin is quite strong, but the, you know, volume is there, but the value is, you know, relatively low.
Answered
Medium priority
Would a rise in premium emulsion mix necessarily expand gross margins?
Asked by Karthik Chellappa, Indus Capital
Confirmed that luxury emulsions have higher margins but noted other factors could offset.
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Question
So, sir, then the corollary would be that if tomorrow premium or emulsion were also to rise in the mix, it need not necessarily mean a gross margin expansion. There might be so many other variables at play, including the variance within emulsions, which you have sold. Would that be a fair conclusion?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
Normally, the luxury category emulsions has higher margin levels, so if that goes up, there will be an improvement in margin, provided something else doesn't start dropping, so no other high-margin products also start sinking.
Answered
Medium priority
What is the total number of dealer outlets with tinting machines and percentage?
Asked by Karthik Chellappa, Indus Capital
Provided both percentage and absolute number.
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Question
would you be able to share what would be the total dealer outlets with tinting machines today, and what would that percentage be of total dealers?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
it's almost 90%+ in terms of the saturation level that we have in terms of machines, with relevant, meaningful dealers. ... this number will be in excess of 40,000.
Partial answer
Medium priority
Which geographies outperformed and underperformed in volume growth?
Asked by Karthik Chellappa, Indus Capital
Listed underperformers but refused to name outperformers.
declined to name outperformers
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Question
Last question from my side, sir, is on the volume growth of 12%, could you give some color on geography-wise? Which are the geographies, at least qualitatively, which outperformed and which were the ones which were underperforming?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
underperformance from Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh, Telangana area. We did badly in Kerala. ... West Bengal, again, for the industry at large, in fact, we did slightly better than the industry, but it's been little down and out. ... And the outperformers? I would prefer not to answer, you know?
Answered
Low priority
What is the status of Berger's Bangladesh operations amid unrest?
Asked by Ritam Mukherjee, Thomson Reuters
Clarified no financial impact on Berger India and provided operational status.
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Question
Considering the scenario that unfolded in the last few weeks, especially this week, can you give me a color on how your operations in Bangladesh currently stand? As in, if you have restarted your operations, if it was down, if there was an interruption, at what capacity are your factories back to work, et cetera?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
Berger Paints Bangladesh is an independent company. It doesn't. There is no, you know, implication for us in terms of our performance. ... everyone is safe in that company. ... every asset is safe. And, it has come back to action, on the ground from yesterday.
Answered
High priority
What was the industry volume growth in Q1 and outlook?
Asked by Amit Purohit, Elara Capital
Provided a specific estimate and forward outlook.
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Question
Sir, just wanted to understand on the industry growth, how has been, Q1 at an industry level? I understand peak double digit. So generally, how should one read the industry growth for Q1?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
industry growth, in terms of volume... will be probably around 8 odd percentage... estimated growth will be around 8, 8.2, possibly. ... it will improve as the year progresses, from second quarter to the third quarter, and the best will come in the fourth quarter.
Answered
Medium priority
What is the total dealer count and machine penetration?
Asked by Amit Purohit, Elara Capital
Provided specific numbers for direct dealers and machine penetration.
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Question
Overall, dealers would be direct, indirect, put together would be what number that would be for us or-
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
we have direct dealers of about 47-48 thousand, you know- Out of which, you know, about 40,000 is already having machines. And there will be many more indirect ones, which are basically retailers or distributors, or that of wholesalers. And that will be another probably 8-10 thousand at least.
Answered
Medium priority
What is the target for dealer additions this year and next?
Asked by Amit Purohit, Elara Capital
Provided specific target for the year and Q1 progress.
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Question
What is the kind of addition that we are looking this year and probably next year?
Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO
We expect that, you know, it to reach about 8,000 at least, you know, this year. Additional 8,000 is what we are looking at. In the first quarter, we have done about 1,800 machines, and we expect that typically it tends to pick up in the second and third quarter.
Quantitative claims vs filed numbers
| Claim | Management said | Filing | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume growth 11.8%, value growth 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% | Matches filing |
| Operating profit margin 17.2% | 17.2% | 17.2% | Matches filing |
| PAT degrowth 6.4% | -6.4% | -6.4% | Matches filing |
| Consolidated total income growth 2% | 2% | 2.4% | Matches filing |
| Consolidated PAT degrowth 0.2% | -0.2% | -6.4% | Overstated vs filing |
Filed figures sourced from Screener.in. Claims within a small tolerance of the filing are marked “matches filing”.