(Reuters) - Paint maker Akzo Nobel India reported a near 14% rise in its fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, aided by higher sales of its decorative paints.

The maker of Dulux paints reported a consolidated net profit of 1.09 billion rupees ($13.1 million) for the quarter ended March 31.

Revenue from operations rose 2% to 9.73 billion rupees.

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KEY CONTEXT

Indian paint makers are facing a weak demand environment with consumers resorting to cheaper options, forcing larger players to cut prices to sustain their sales. Akzo Nobel India also flagged moderation in its volumes, but maintained better profit margin aided by favourable product mix across different categories.

Larger rival Asian Paints reported lower revenue in the March quarter and flagged lower demand in the premium segment of products, while Berger Paints reported a marginal increase in revenue. Kansai Nerolac reported a 2% increase in revenue, while Indigo Paints is yet to report results.

PEER COMPARISON

Valuation (next 12 Estimates (next 12 Analysts' sentiment

months) months)

RIC PE EV/EBITDA Revenue profit Mean # of Stock to Div

growth (%) growth rating analyst price target yield

(%) s (%)

Akzo Nobel India 26.38 16.50 12.56 0.89 HOLD 1 0.86 3.52

Ltd

Asian Paints Ltd 50.01 34.15 7.53 -1.68 HOLD 35 0.96 1.18

Kansai Nerolac 28.79 18.25 8.77 30.23 HOLD 11 0.85 0.91

Paints Ltd

Indigo Paints Ltd 36.35 21.59 18.60 17.16 HOLD 6 0.84 0.26

* Mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** Ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

JANUARY-MARCH STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

-- $1 = 83.4859 Indian rupees

(Reporting by Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)