At a time when volume growth is lacklustre, a welcome development for paint companies is the easing of input cost inflation. In fact, with crude oil prices on a weak footing now, the outlook on margins has improved. However, crude oil price has corrected recently (WTI crude down c.15% over FY19 average). Apart from softening raw material prices, price hikes taken in the decorative paints portfolio by these companies would also help. Brent crude prices have declined nearly 15% from their recent peak of $74.57 per barrel seen in April 2019.

Source: Mint June 11, 2019 17:15 UTC