Good evening, and a very warm welcome to one and all for Asian Paints Investor Conference for Q4 FY 2022 results. Myself, Arun Nair from Corporate Communications. Today on the panel we have Mr. Amit Syngle, MD and CEO. Mr. R.J. Jeyamurugan, CFO and Company Secretary. Mr. Parag Rane, GM Finance. May I now request Mr. Amit Syngle to take you all through to the presentation. Mr. Amit Syngle, over to you.
A very good evening to all of you, and thanks for coming for the investor conference for the Q4 financial 2022 results. I will take you briefly through the presentation in terms of how have been the numbers, so that we can get a quick idea in terms of what it is. Just to recap, Asian Paints has been delivering joy since 1942, and as you all know, we exist to beautify, preserve, transform all spaces and objects and bring happiness and joy to the world. You can see practically all spaces is something which you touch across with all the objects which are there. Just a disclaimer. Overall, when you look at the numbers, finally a very strong quarter is what I would say in terms of what we have been able to deliver.
The bases were very strong with a 48% volume growth last year on the same quarter, and a 44% value on which basically the volume growth has been a strong 8% in terms of what we have been able to deliver, and a value growth of about 21%, if we look at the overall decorative business. The CAGRs over the two and three years for both, volume and value, as you can see, are very strong and very positive from that point of view in terms of stating the intent of the company in terms of the which way we are headed over the various quarters, and that has been the very strong focus in terms of what we have taken.
In terms of the volume growth, the larger growths obviously came in the months of February and March, because January was affected because of the COVID third wave to that extent. We think that to grow 8% on a 48% kind of a growth base, I think it is really good in terms of what has been delivered. Overall, if you look at the picture across the quarters, if you see all quarters have been very, very strong, to that extent, resulting in terms of the year being also at a very strong 31% volume growth and a value growth of 36%. It's very clearly a very robust performance in terms of what you see.
Specifically when we look at the full year, today, as I said, volume is at a 31% growth on a base of a 13% growth last year, and our value is at a very strong 36% growth. Despite the fact that there would be a contribution because of the price increases, I think it's overall a very strong value growth for the year in terms of what has got delivered. Again, here you see that the CAGRs over two years and three years, both on the volume and the value, are very strong and very strongly positive. I think that's clearly indicating that, overall, the trajectory has been very, very strong over the years in terms of what we have looked at in terms of our growths on the overall top line.
Some qualitative things which are coming, which you would be definitely interested. If you look at, you know, the growth, T1, T2 centers in the metros have done good double-digit growths, especially in the luxury and the premium range, which is there. T3, T4, if you look at, there have been good growths here as well, and, there's double-digit growth in the economy range here, to that extent. There is a mixed bag in terms of this thing, but overall what we see is that T1, T2 has done much better than T3, T4 cities as an overall performance in Q4. As we see, today, that, the growth was dented in Jan 2022 because of the COVID.
February and March were very strong growths in terms of double digits, which we kind of got, which has given us a resultant 8% growth for the quarter. If you look at, growths have been across geographies, and the highest obviously has been in West and the eastern geographies, but other regions also have been pretty good overall in terms of what we have delivered in Q4. Overall, one of the focus of the companies has been that, we look at technological innovation in a very strong way, and new products is a way to that innovation, where we are looking at, patents and we are looking at invention disclosures, to that extent. Today, we see that the overall new products are contributing to almost, like, 14% of the revenues top line.
I think that is a very strong trajectory as far as the story of innovation goes. Waterproofing and wood finishes, two categories which has seen exponential growth rates, and here the competition is not only the paint companies, but what we see is the competition being a plethora of multinational companies and other players which are there. The other business which has taken a big surge in terms of what we see as far as Q4 is concerned is the project institutional business, and this has been across the cities from the builder segment as well. Strong growth coming more from the government factory segment overall, and waterproofing and admixtures have done fairly well overall as part of the imperative to kind of get into newer construction. This is possibly the highlights in terms of what we look.
Some idea in terms of the innovation. We have got into world-class textures now which are being offered. Today we believe that no one is able to offer this range of textures at this cost in terms of what we are giving, and these are tuned to the Indian climate conditions. This is an innovation which I would say that it is new to the world, so to so innovation, which we have kind of bought. The other is that for the first time in the category, we have looked at a fire retardant paint, which was not there. It was only in industrial coatings. A fire retardant paint for normal homes with a very strong lotus effect technology, which means that today it prevents any water kind of going inside the walls to that extent.
I think it comes with also an anti-stain absorption. I think all in all, a very, very superior technology product which is coming, which we introduced this year. We have Royale Glitz, which is the top-end product, which is there. I think the key thing here comes in is that it's in the uber luxury space, with anti-crack durable coatings and Teflon kind of luxury and protection which kind of comes in. Interior products, good innovation. Similarly, in the whole area of waterproofing, wood finishes, a lot of products which are unique for the first time for the Indian market and based on technological innovations to that extent.
I think the stress here is that some of these products cannot be offered by competition very easily because it is either patented or in terms of coming with a huge technology which is there. To that extent, it is something which we think will give us gains for a long period of time. If you look at the overall year, as we see, I think distribution footprint, which has been the strength of Asian Paints, is something which we looked at concentrating in a very big way. We looked at opening new retailers in big city suburbs and T3, T4 cities in a strong way.
Today we have a unique model where we are now coexisting on a distributor model and a direct dealer model as well, which has given us almost 15,000 retail points more this year, taking our total tally to about 145,000 retail points, which itself is a very, very strong number frm the point of the footprint across the length and breadth of the country. When we look at product category, again, as I said, expansion into areas which have been very, very strong this year. Some of the things I just covered for you, including new categories like adhesives and DIY paints in terms of what we have kind of got into.
The entire thing as a leader, what we are looking at is that we are increasing the per capita consumption and enlarging the whole paint market in a strong way. New categories to fuel growth, we have entered the wood polish market, which we can convert the French polish players to a new product called GloMax in terms of what we have introduced. We have introduced super economy emulsions, which basically gets the unorganized emulsion user into an organized emulsion space strongly. Some of the categories which I just covered, like the fire retardant, glass paints, floor paints, which are really enlarging the overall paint market in a very strong way. That, I think, is a task of a leader in terms of looking at continuously exploring newer spaces, newer avenues, so that the per capita consumption of paint really kind of increases.
The other unique thing is that, we have a very unique painting service model. We believe that globally this is the biggest and the best service model. No other company today, even outside the paint space, has such a big model in terms of what it is delivering. It is across more than 240 towns with 150,000 trained painters and a customer delight coming through an NPS measure in terms of what we have put into place. A range of services which we are offering through so that the customers are happy taking this service. We think this is a very strong servicing edge which cannot be replicated by anyone very easily, something which we have propagated, and we are growing it bigger and bigger every year.
Some of the glimpses of the services which we offer in terms of the safe painting services and waterproofing and other things which comes as part of the overall painting service which we have. We look at now the home decor business, and I'm sure a lot of you have questions on home decor in terms of what we are doing. Today, I think the home decor fair is a very, very strong foray where we are looking at Asian Paints being a forerunner in the inspirational and exciting, as a exciting partner, where we are also partnering the customer in the home decor so that we can make her dream home come alive. This is a transition from the share of surface to a share of space. Now we exist not only between the, on the walls, but between the four walls as well.
This is a business I want to reemphasize. It is complementing our existing business and adding to our coatings business in a very big way because the customer is the same and therefore what you are expanding is a customer life cycle. You are talking of more touch points in the customer life cycle, and therefore I think it really invigorates our core business as we kind of go forward. Today, our endeavor is to provide home decor under one roof. Today, we are looking at Beautiful Homes stores across the country. We have 29 stores which offer kitchen, bath, sanitary ware, lighting, tiles, flooring, furnishing, furniture, doors, and windows across one roof, under one roof to that extent. In this category, if you see, today, we own kitchen, we own bath, we own sanitary in terms of manufacturing.
We've just bought a lighting company, which is White Teak. Okay? We have got into furnishings with a company called GM Syntex, where we have done an alignment. We have got doors and windows through another acquisition which we have done on Weatherseal. The idea is that today we are not looking at just procuring products, but we are looking at making our own products and Asian Paints having a way of decor going very strongly. We believe that today, by the end of this year, we would have about 70 stores, and we would be India's biggest chain of stores of home decor in terms of how we see going forward to that extent. We have a central inspiration model, which is called the beautifulhomes.com, which offers inspiration to the people.
We also have a Beautiful Homes service, which is offering personalized interior decor for professional execution, which is offered in nine to 11 cities as we look at going forward. We also have a BH Shop, which is offering a e-com kind of a potential, which is there to that extent. If you see, all offerings are very, very strong, and it's a complete home decor foray, which we have built over the last two, three years in a very strong manner to that extent. As part of this today, as I said, we have made investments across the products which are there. Overall, where today, all products are getting kind of made by us. In designer and general tiles, we are making a greenfield foray ourselves.
In wardrobes and vanities, again, there is a greenfield foray which we are getting into. Today, when you look at designer wallpaper, we have set up a facility in Jaipur to extend. Rugs, we have done an alignment with Jaipur Rugs there. As I said, two new acquisitions which have come. Today, I think it's a unique model which we have, and it's a very strong model which is spread over e-com, physical execution, and services all together, which is a complete kind of a facet which we are offering. As I said, we aligned with this company, we took over this company, we announced it on first of April 2022, the White Teak company. It's a premium lighting company, and, we feel that it's a very strong alignment in terms of what we have done.
Secondly, we have got this Weatherseal, which is making uPVC doors and windows, and it's a big segment in terms of what we are gunning at. Therefore, I think it gives us a lot of advantage in terms of going forward as we look at the home décor category. Obviously coming to numbers, we think that home décor business this year overall, if we see all the businesses, would be about 4% of our total deco business.
Going forward, I think in the next about three years, we are aiming that we can take it to about 8%-10% of our total business, and that also a profitable business, so that overall, this kind of really becomes a very strong point of galvanizing the company into a new trajectory going forward and adds to the coatings business in a strong way, as we go ahead. I think this is something which is the story of home decor, which I wanted to quickly tell you. Going on to the other businesses. Kitchen and bath, which is part of this. Both businesses have been really revolutionary this year. Kitchen business has been delivering INR 100+ crores for the third consecutive quarter.
Overall, if you see, the growths have been very, very strong in terms of the overall financial year. It has grown by 55%, good growths in Q4 as well. Similarly, the bath business has registered a very strong growth of 46%, and in Q4 about 17%. Overall, we see on a profitability front, both businesses are coming up fairly well. To date, kitchen business has reduced the losses to just about INR -2 crore this year over INR -9 of last year to that extent. Overall, over a business of INR -9 over the full year kind of a zone, which was there earlier. To date, we look at kitchen contributing to INR -9 crore, which is much better than what we did last year.
In bath, overall, if you look at this year, we have done a INR 4 crore kind of PBT, which has come in to that extent. In the quarter, it is INR 1 crore. So both businesses strongly delivering on the top and the bottom line. I think, today this is the future in terms of what we are taking of the kitchen and the bath business going forward in a strong trajectory with good profitability going forward. Coming to international business. This business has been something where I think it has been a very tough year overall as we look at it. In quarter four, if we look at overall, we have still done a decent amount of business which is there, overall to that extent.
If you look at the various regions, the highest growth comes in from Asia, where basically the revenues have been stronger, both in Q4 and the full year, followed by to some extent in Middle East and South Pacific. Africa has not done too well overall in terms of looking at it. The debacle this year has happened more from the point of view of profitability. Given the very high amounts of inflation, we had taken some price increases, but not commensurate in terms of the overall increases to that extent. The second factor which is contributing is the devaluation of the currency, which is in Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Egypt overall to that extent. That is why if you see the numbers in Africa are affected very, very strongly, so are the numbers affected in Middle East to that extent.
Asia has done relatively better. In Q4, we have got some profitability. I think the whole thing, what we are seeing in Sri Lanka has put the overall profitability down to that extent, this year. On the whole, on the top line, I think it is still a good growth in terms of what we are seeing in international business. However, from the point of view of profitability, I think the inflation has taken a toll coupled with the currency devaluation to that extent. Going forward to the industrial business. If we look at the entire business, which we call as the PPG AP business, which is about the auto OE, auto refinishes, and the marine paints business overall to that extent. This year has been a relatively good year in terms of what we see.
For a year, we see a 32% kind of a growth. For the quarter, we have a 19% growth, which is there to that extent. In the other business, which is the APPG business, which is a general industrial business, which we see, this has done phenomenally well. In fact, it has grown by 51% for the year, clocking almost close to INR 800 crore of business which has come in. In quarter four also, the business has been very, very strong. I think the good part is the profitability for both the businesses, which is the PPG AP as well as the APPG business, has been strong, and we are seeing good growths on both the businesses together to that extent.
Therefore, I think industrial overall has grown at a good quick clip, both in Q4 as well as for the entire year. There are some exceptional items which we would like to draw your attention to. Obviously, today there is when we put up a plant, we get some subsidies from the state governments and the state. The subsidies take a little bit of time for the realization of these monies really coming to us physically to that extent. Therefore, what we have looked at is basically, you know, creating a method where we are looking at how to account for these, because the realizations of this are not known in terms of when they will happen to that extent. Therefore, we have provided for two amounts here.
One is the 53.7 crores, which is what we have taken as one set of subsidy which is for the previous years to that extent. The second is what we have taken as a subsidy of INR 31.1 crores, which is for the current year in terms of what we are kind of assessing. I think these are the two kind of subsidy exceptional items which are kind of coming, which is impacting the profit. The third is the story in terms of Sri Lanka, where possibly we are seeing that there is a currency devaluation which has taken place, which has led to almost a recognition of an expense of about INR 48.5 crores towards the exchange loss.
Second, we have a company called Causeway there, which we had acquired some time back, and there we are looking at an impairment provision of about INR 13.5 crores as an exceptional item on goodwill on consolidation recognized on the acquisition of Causeway. I think these are the two big items which are coming, which are affecting you know the overall profits at the standalone as well as the consolidated level to that extent which are there. We look at overall, if you look at, you're familiar with this in terms of what we had presented. Overall, if you look at from the point of view of gross margins, I think this trajectory had gone down to quarter two to about 35%. Then in Q3, we brought it to about 37%.
In Q4, after the price increases in terms of what we have taken, the gross margin is quite good, relatively speaking, at about 40% to that extent, helped also by price increases and the fact that in Q4 we did not see too much of an inflation. It was just about 1% to that extent. Therefore, I think the good story is that the gross margins are back to that extent which is happening. Obviously, I think we'll have to watch out because Q1 story is now again inflationary, which is looking at about 5%-7% kind of inflation happening in Q1, where we are taking some measures as we kind of go forward. Overall, in the summary, you look at the standalone financials.
Overall, as we said, we just discussed that on the net sales there's a 22% kind of a growth overall which has come in. If you look at PBT is a strong 14%, which you are seeing. This is before the exceptional items. If you see the PAT is about 10% for Q4. These figures are all for Q4, and I think they are very, very strong numbers because the bases were very high to that extent, coupled with the fact that January was a COVID month, which was like a whitewash month to that extent. The quarter was a two-month quarter in a way to look at in that way. If you look at the full year, again, I think the standalone financials are very strong.
A 37% net sales kind of a growth which you are seeing overall. PBDIT, which is, also strong in terms of which has come up along with PBT and the PAT numbers which are there. Overall, if you see the PBDIT margins have really improved in Q4 to that extent, and so have the gross margins, as I said, to that extent. The PBDIT margins for Q4 are back to the 20.2%, which is there to that extent. Which is a good recovery which has happened in terms of the PBDIT margins overall to that extent. Let's look at the consolidated numbers. Again, if you see for quarter four overall, good numbers on net sales, 21% even in terms of PBT numbers if you see.
You are looking at a clear 13% kind of a growth which is coming in the PAT number. The PAT is flat because obviously in terms of the exceptional expenses we have taken and also the global business, which has possibly under-delivered overall to that extent. On the year front, obviously the top line numbers are good. The bottom line numbers are affected overall for the full year because of the global performance and the exceptional items which have come in terms of the overall PAT which is there. Overall, the top line looks pretty good in terms of what we have been able to deliver. In terms of dividends, again I think we have been a steady player in terms of rewarding the shareholders to that extent.
For even the current year, we have given a 58.6% payout to that extent, and that is something which is a reward for possibly a good performance in terms of what has happened this year. I think overall this trajectory has been fairly good. Some of the conditions as an immediate outlook as we see. Overall, as I said, the demand conditions can be a little tough. We don't know in terms of what is going to happen, but we are still confident that what we saw in February and March, I think, the trajectory should be good in terms of going forward from the point of view of demand.
The only worry is that if there is a COVID scenario which comes back or, the other big problem is the inflation in terms of what is there. For inflation, obviously, as we have stated here, we are taking some calibrated price increases. We have already taken two increases, this quarter, and we will see in terms of if we have to take more increases going forward. We are putting in place a very, very strong structure for sourcing and formulation efficiencies which we can get so that we can counter the effect of the inflation going forward overall. Monsoons are supposed to be good. I think the trajectory of T3, T4 cities, we are confident that should kind of pick up and should be good as we kind of go forward. Global markets challenges will continue for some time.
We don't think so. The situation in Sri Lanka is under control to that extent, and Egypt and Ethiopia possibly will fight back in the second half of the year. Sri Lanka would always remain as a concern because it will take some time, you know, the situation to kind of really become normalized. Just a brief thing on our journey in terms of what we are taking as the ESG, and that is a very strong journey Asian Paints has been kind of making. Over the years, we have specifically looked at environment, social, and governance here. In the environment, strongly looking at product stewardship as one strong thing. Water, energy is something which is a very strong objective, which we have kind of taken, and I think a strong journey which is kind of pursuing in those areas.
As far as social is concerned, a strong amount of community work which is happening. We have taken a strong work on water. Water harvesting and whole area of water stewardship is a very strong area in terms of what we have kind of invoked. The whole area of making the entire environment energizing, equitable and inclusive, I think those are strong elements in terms of what we are kind of bringing with our policies and looking at giving that kind of empowerment to the employees going forward, to that extent. Finally, in terms of governance, I think this has been a strong point at Asian Paints, and this is something which we give a lot of kind of weight age to.
Therefore, we look at a world-class governance which is coming and therefore engaging with stakeholders proactively and looking at complete transparency in terms of going forward as we look at. I think these are the responsible choices we are making as far as the ESG journey kind of goes. Some elements which we will keep on highlighting to you as we kind of go forward. I think sustainable products is a very strong zone. Green Seal, Green Assure, these are some of the standards which we are kind of doing. We have about 187 products which have been certified by the CII IGBC as GreenPro products to that extent. Similarly, we are in the process of eliminating a lot of ingredients.
For example, lead was eliminated for obvious reasons way back, to that extent and subsequently, we kind of took out some of the elements like the respirable crystalline silica and so on and so forth to that extent. This is a continuous initiative which we'll kind of keep on going to so that we are able to kind of look at green products in a very strong way. The other is the whole area of the carbon footprint, and here is something which is a continuous kind of work which is going on, not only with respect to our plants, but also looking at supply chain, looking at our offices, and the complete 360 degrees in terms of seeing what is the kind of work we can do at shrinking the carbon footprint in terms of going forward.
Last, if you look at from the point of view of the work which we have done, I think it is pretty strong in terms of that not only we are looking at reduction in terms of what we consume in terms of water, but also replenishment. That I think is a big story in terms of what we are doing. I think these two kind of go together with respect to the whole area of environment conservation in a very strong manner. Similarly, when we look at from the point of view of electricity. Okay, we have 59% electricity from the renewable sources which is coming, and we have also reduced the electricity consumption internally. Strong objective both ways which are coming.
Similarly, the industrial effluent generation is something which we are reducing, and we are already got into a zero effluent discharge from our factories. I think this is a very strong initiative in terms of what has been taken by us towards the environment. Lastly, in terms of looking at plastics, more and more areas in terms of recycling, collecting the plastic, and then seeing in terms of what we can do about it in terms of going forward. I wanted to kind of give you just a flavor in terms of the ESG, what we are doing, and there is lots more which can't be put in three slides together.
I think that is a big focus in terms of as a leader we are taking in the industries to make a mark that we are socially responsible, and those are the choices we are taking. The other thing which is what we would like to kind of do is as part of the social thing which is concerned. The CSR, we have touched very, very strongly good numbers. We have a vocational training. We do about 360,000 such trainings. In terms of the health and hygiene, we kind of really cover almost like 270,000 beneficiaries which are there.
In terms of water management, that is a big thing which we are taking possibly in a lot of areas where our plants are located, where we are looking at recharging the water through various initiatives to that extent. You can see the plethora of work which is happening in these areas, which is extremely strong. These were some of the things which I wanted to brief. Overall, in summary, a strong quarter, which is there. A range of initiatives, a lot of innovation which has come in, and we believe that it has been a very, very strong objective for us to kind of look at the full year being delivered in this manner in a COVID kind of trajectory, which we have seen this year as well. Thank you so much.
Thank you, sir. We'll begin with the Q&A now. Today, we have participants joining on Zoom video platform and also via teleconferencing platform. Requesting all participants joined via Zoom video platform, please use the raise hand feature to ask your questions to the panelists. Kindly unmute when given a chance to ask a question. Please state your name and your company name before asking your questions. Participant connecting via Zoom video platform can post their question on the chat box too, and we will ask on your behalf. Participants joined through toll-free numbers, please press star one to ask questions to the panelists. Please also say your name and company name before asking your question. We would also request you all to limit your questions to two minutes please, so that everybody gets an opportunity to ask their questions. Our first question is from Mr.
Avi Mehta, who has joined us on Zoom. Sir, please unmute yourself, state your name and your company name, and ask your question.
Hi, this is Avi here from Equity. I had two questions specifically. First, essentially is on the price, the input cost environment. What is the extent of price increases that you are looking or would need to pass on the current inflation? Or put it differently, what is the crude price that is there after these two price increases that you've taken, which is almost about 1%, 2% odd? If you could give us that sense. More broadly, while you're kind of answering that, if you could give us a sense on the demand strength, because you did sound a little concerned on the demand strength, and hence, do you expect that the time it will take to pass this inflation will be longer than what it has historically been? That was my first question.
Would you want me to go to the second now or should I?
No, I'll answer this question. Overall, when you look at from the point of view of inflation, as I said that in quarter one, which we are seeing an inflation of close to about 5%-7%, and this is across the range of raw materials, including TiO2, solvents, additives, and so on and so forth, to that extent. We have taken roughly a price increase of about 1.8%-2% kind of an increase, which is spread across two months in terms of increase on first of May and an increase on first of June in terms of there. In addition, we are looking at a very strong initiative which we have launched internally in terms of sourcing and formulation efficiencies and looking at alternate RMs in a very strong way.
We think that we should be able to cover a large chunk of the inflation also through some of these initiatives which are kind of coming in. As we go forward, we need to kind of balance the consumer demand, and also looking at the price increases in terms of what we pass on to the market as a responsible industry leader to that extent. Therefore, what we are looking going forward as some calibrated increases, which we might do depending on the kind of savings which we are able to get overall.
I think, this is going to be a cycle which we will continuously assess in terms of going forward and look at possibly, some more calibrated price increases coming as we kind of go forward, depending on the kind of savings in terms of what we are seeing, and also observing the geopolitical situation in terms of how it kind of really quietens down. That's part one. The second part is with respect to demand.
We feel that in the quarter four, the price inflation did affect a little bit of a demand in terms of some of the T3, T4 cities, where possibly people kind of really, kind of deferred, their kind of paint demand, since paint demand is discretionary in nature to that extent, and some amount of downgrading, from premium to luxury to economy in the T1, T2 cities in terms of what we would have seen. But as I said, February and March were high growth, high double-digit volume growth numbers. Which means we feel that the inherent demand in the market would still kind of play on.
We must remember that people have seen two years of solid kind of uncertainty because of COVID, and therefore there is still a latent kind of demand which is still there, which we will see in the coming months and quarters to that extent. I feel that on the demand conditions, if the current situation persists, I think the demand condition should be good. You know, we are not expecting possibly another COVID round coming to that extent because I think the third round of vaccinations have already started to that extent. I think as we kind of go forward, we are pretty confident about the consumer demand, given the Feb-March indications and whatever we see of April currently to that extent going forward.
The only concern would be that inflation should not play a spoilsport because if the inflation goes up largely, we would be kind of constrained to take larger price increases in the market to that extent, which will definitely affect some of the economy products in terms of the demand which is there, because finally there is a price elasticity which matters in terms of looking at consumer purchases. Overall, we are pretty confident that the current situation, I think the consumer demand should be very good because February, March and April, we have seen that.
Got it, sir. Got it. My second and last question was on the home decor piece. While we are looking to increase the touch points, could you give me a sense of the positioning? Is this more a quality product at a, you know, value kind of position or, which is not available in the market? Or is this more of convenience wherein all products are available under one roof? What will be Asian Paints' focus over here?
We are looking at something what we call as the affordable luxury. This is something which is kind of pegged at a premium kind of a level at, but at the same time, a strong connotation of the value for money which also comes in. This is definitely not in the space of uber luxury at the top end in terms of what we see, but we look at possibly affordable luxury in a very strong manner. The whole theme is there that Asian Paints is looking at a certain way of decor. Asian Paints is propagating a certain way of decor. It is like fashion in terms of what you propagate. As I said, I think the big story here is that you are talking of physical assets which are in terms of stores.
You are talking of a big service, which is a implementation service, and you are talking of categories where there is a strong manufacturing angle or an acquisition angle which we have taken. I think all in all, it kind of really gives a very strong signal that there is a strong seriousness and there is a strong kind of inclination in terms of making this category big.
Okay, sir. Thank you. That's all from my side.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Abneesh Roy, who has joined us on the teleconferencing platform. Sir, please state your name and company name before asking the question. I would also request you to press star one before unmuting yourself.
Hello. Yeah. Hi, this is Abneesh Roy from Edelweiss. Congrats on strong performance. My first question is on waterproofing and wood finishing. You mentioned you have come out with unique products and India first products, and these are based on patents and technology. Now there is a very strong adhesive player which has got a brand for a much longer timeframe and very strong advertising also. When you say unique and India first products, is this against broader market or is this against the adhesive player also?
Okay. When we look at the waterproofing space, Abneesh, we are looking at, going forward, one being the, you know, undisputed players as far as the retail offering is concerned, because, if you look at from the point of view of retail offering, it is all about solutioning. It is about giving a solution to the customer, which is very, very important in terms of what is there. When we are talking of unique products, for example, I'll give you example of a product called Hydroloc, which we have come by, which has a unique technology that it kind of really doesn't allow water from inside to come outside onto the wall. At the same time, it has a technology where it, when it comes in contact with water, it forms crystals, okay?
That it blocks the water to kind of come out. I think the technologies which we are talking are very, very unique and no other, I repeat, no other player today in India and abroad has a technology like that for a retail market in terms of what we are placing. We think that today, we are the number one players as far as the waterproofing category is concerned, as far as retail goes to that extent. When you look at the category from the point of view of a B2B segment and an institutional project segment, which is largely construction and the players, there are a lot of multinationals like the Fosroc, the BASF, Sika, which are players which are there to that extent.
We are today stepping up our chemistries and looking at a lot of solutions which we are launching, which are in the spaces of not only liquid membranes, but other kind of membranes which are kind of coming, which are very strong technological backed products which are there to that extent. Today, I think that is an area where today only the multinationals are strong and there is no other player in India which is strong to that extent which is there. We are looking and targeting in terms of getting some very strong kind of business in that area also. I can only tell you that I think over the last seven years we have been literally looking at doubling the numbers here in ter\ms of going forward.
We think it's a very strong objective, and we are much ahead of any other company in India or the world in terms of looking at the technology in waterproofing.
Thanks, sir. My last question is on Sleek. You had acquired Sleek in 2017. It's now almost INR 500 crore run rate business also and very strong 33% YOY growth, 14% quarter-on-quarter growth. Even after four years, mostly every quarter, there is a small loss. Is it advertising spend? Second, Sleek after four years is still loss-making. You also made a comment that home decor in the next four, five years, I think you will target a profit here. Taking Sleek into consideration, how easy will home decor be, because that's much smaller scale also versus home decor Sleek, which is already INR 500 crore run rate. How easy will profit be in home decor in the next four, five years?
Okay. First of all, I must say that, Sleek, you know, as we are seeing that, Last two years, I think there are quarters which Sleek has delivered profit as well overall to that extent. This year overall, if you look at the numbers, I think the numbers are very strong. There is a very small loss which is there. We are very confident that as we come into the current year, I think the current year would be a total profit year for Sleek as we look at, going forward. BH is already on a profit trajectory in terms of what you see this year to that extent.
Going forward, if you look at the home decor category, you know, whether it is the fabric business or whether it is the Beautiful Homes business or whether it is the White Teak business, today, it's not that people are not making money. The White Teak's business, today is at a very strong EBITDA of more than 20% in terms of what they earn out of it. It's a category where you can make money in terms of going forward to that extent. Therefore, we believe that the trajectory which we are taking is very strong, and it would be a profitable category as we go ahead.
Even today, what we are confident that both BH and Sleek will now continuously come into the positive trend as we kind of go forward, and so would other categories as we look at the next about two-three years. Thanks, Amit. That's all from my side. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Mr. Shirish Pardeshi, who has joined us on Zoom. Sir, please unmute yourself, state your name and company name, and ask your question.
Yeah. Hi, Amit. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. Actually, I'm delighted, and you have a double congratulations. One is the good set of numbers, and I'm happy that in the next five years we will interact with you continuously. On that note, I have two questions, one on domestic decorative. You said that the demand condition which are a bit hazy at this point of time, but you also made a very strong comment that monsoon in a row three years is going to be very strong. In that context, if you can help me, because T3, T4 the performance has been a little volatile in last three to four quarters, but T1, T2 is very strong. There are two parts to this question.
For FY 2022, if you can break up what is T1, T2 contribution and what is T3, T4 contribution to overall decorative business. The touch point, what you have said, is that a stronger outcome than we need that we are expecting a very strong growth in T3, T4? How much more we can grow in terms of distribution?
Okay. If you look at possibly the contributions roughly for T3, T4 versus T1, T2 would be in the zone of about 40%-45% to 60%-65% kind of a zone, which is there to that extent. Obviously, I think the contribution from T3, T4 is higher in terms of what we see because the number of towns are very, very large to that extent. What we see is that the T3, T4 has been fueled also by a large distribution strategy, as I pointed out to that extent, where there are new retailers coming, new customers kind of coming into the belt to that extent, and that is something which is also fueling the entire T3, T4 market in a very strong manner to that extent.
For the year, as I said, the T1, T2 has grown faster, obviously, to some extent, which is there. Because what we are seeing is that because of the migration of the customers which is happening, the T1, T2 cities are getting more and more populated as well to that extent. The T1, T2 contributions are increasing over a period of time to that extent as we kind of go ahead. Overall, what I see very clearly is that the T3, T4 cities are also very strongly dependent on the agrarian income and the agrarian kind of forecast which happens in the country. As I said, monsoons predicted are normal this year overall.
I don't see that there should be any reason why we should not see good growths in T3, T4, coupled with our distribution, which will kind of continue to that extent. The only one hitch which is there is that today there is a certain price elasticity. For a consumer, if there are too many price increases which are there, then I think to some extent there is a deferment in terms of the paint category which starts happening over a period of time. I think that is the only concern if the inflation figure goes haywire. Right now, I think it is still controllable to that extent. If the inflation goes haywire like what we saw it last year to that extent, now that could have an impact on the demand.
I don't think so that as a probability. Therefore, my prediction is that I think, for the coming year, both T3, T4 and T1, T2 should do, quite well.
Okay. That's really helpful. My second and last question is on the international. I just made a rough calculation out of INR 28,000 crore, what we have done, around 13.5% contribution comes from the international business. My question is specifically on you said that there is some volatility in terms of currency headwinds, especially you called out Sri Lanka, and
Egypt and Ethiopia.
Egypt and Ethiopia. Just one question, on that. Out of that 13.5%, maybe broadly, if you can say that how much quantum of the business is at stake, because of these three geographies?
If you look at, there is Sri Lanka, there's Ethiopia, and there is Egypt. Roughly, I would say that the quantum which would get affected is about 5% or so. 5%-6%, yeah.
Of the total.
Of the total.
Of the total group.
Total group.
Of the total group.
About roughly 40-45% of the IBU sort of portfolio.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. That's really helpful, Parag. Amit, all the best to you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Mr. Saumil Mehta, who has joined us on the teleconferencing platform. Sir, you may please ask your question now.
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Saumil Mehta from Kotak Life. Two questions. One is in continuation to one of the previous question wherein, you know, we are increasing distribution footprint by about 60,000 touchpoints. That's a very heartening number. What I wanted to understand is, over the next two or three years, should we believe calculation from those touchpoints similar to what we have today? Or probably there will be cannibalization, and to that extent, a lot of the distribution will be in T3, T4, where the revenue per outlet is far lower than what you have right now.
Sorry, I couldn't get your question. Could you repeat it, please?
In terms of the distribution touchpoint wherein we have added 50,000 more touchpoints over next 15 days, you know, how should we look at the contribution from those touchpoints in over the next two or three years? Can that number be similar to what we do today for existing T3, T4 cities? That's my first question.
Okay. See today what we feel is that we frankly feel that for the coming four-five years to 10 years, I think we don't see any saturation happening in those numbers because I think India is a rapidly expanding market to that extent. We are kind of trying to reach the smallest of the towns and the cities to that extent. In each town we find that there are more and more retailers which are kind of coming, given the population which is there and the low per capita consumption of paint which is there to that extent. That also is kind of increasing every year overall. I think there is nothing which we see as a cannibalization happening in terms of going forward there.
From the point of view of contributions, as I said, see the distribution expansion is happening in both T1, T2 cities as well as in T3, T4 cities to that extent. Therefore, you know, as I said, both the quantums are going to increase to that extent. Therefore, what we see that this would be a strong source of contribution in terms of our overall growth as we kind of go ahead. At the same time, there is the existing set of retail points which will also continuously keep on growing to that extent. I feel that while these are larger distribution points, I think the contribution which they kind of make is good and substantial. Overall this is a process which will continue.
Sure. My second and last question. I believe you are also in the race to acquire the whit cement business of RXA, which has finally been acquired by a large player. Do we expect any sort of, you know, sourcing issues in terms of white cement for our putty business? Or, because the idea of asking, if I look at from last two or three years, the increase in the putty business fraction from paints and, you know, cement players is far higher than the white cement production. At some point in time, do we believe getting a better sourcing of white cement for our putty business might be a challenge?
As a strategy, we keep on looking at backward integration in a very strong way. As you're aware, we already make one of the raw materials called pentaerythritol in terms of what we make ourselves to that extent. We are also making a lot of emulsions and you know, certain ingredients which go into paint to that extent. We keep on looking at opportunities which are coming, whether it is in putty or whether it is in paint to that extent, which is there.
As part of that foray, I think, today, we would kind of be eager to kind of look at saying that if there is an opportunity which comes in terms of investing in a backward integration, which is a strong product from a long-term paint consumption point of view, and we think that we can put some technology in that to kind of grow that, area. I think we would kind of really be interested as part of that. Therefore, not particular to putty, but for all other categories we look at a backward integration in a very strong manner.
Sure. Thank you so much and all the best.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Mr. Richard Liu, who has joined us on the Zoom platform. Sir, please unmute yourselves, state your name and company name, and ask a question.
Hi, thank you for taking my question. I just wanna check, am I audible?
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Okay. Got it. Thank you. I just want to check, you know, this part on gross margin with you, right? If I look at your, you know, your standalone accounts, the YoY growth in COGS is about 51%. On that you've stated that your volume growth is about 21%. If I do it mathematically, it implies that the increase in raw material cost per unit is about 17%-18%. Now, if I look at the inflation on, you know, on TiO2, at least as far as what the headline prices suggest, that is about 30%. Crude inflation is at about-
Sorry, Richard, your voice is echoing a lot.
Oh.
Actually, I don't know. Your voice is echoing a lot.
Okay. Is this better?
Yeah, a little bit. Yeah.
Okay. What I was talking about was that, you know, that if I look at the inflation in COGS per unit, you know, based on your standalone accounts, that seems to be a bigger. The value growth in COGS is about 51% against that you had a volume growth of 31%, right? It implies that the inflation in COGS per unit is about 17%. Against that, if I look at your headline cost increases, TiO2 inflation, at least as far as what the Bloomberg data suggests, is about 29%-30%. Crude is up 60%-65%. The blended would anywhere, I guess, be about 35%-40%.
Now, against a 35%-40% blended inflation in your RM indices, you know, your COGS published data seems to suggest that your per unit cost inflation is just about 17%. Now, I know you talked about internal efficiencies, et cetera, et cetera. You know, the inflation flow through factor, if I can call it that, seems to be less than 50% of what you know, what the headline raw material price data suggests. If you can just throw some light on this. Is it because you had Q cover? Is it a lag effect? How should we look at this playing out as far as FY 2023 is concerned?
Okay. See, I think you will have to look at possibly a different way of calculation today because if you look at possibly the last year total inflation, how we kind of peg it as across various quarters in terms of we see is something like about a 32%-34% kind of overall inflation in terms of what we see against which we have already taken a 24%-25% kind of a overall increase, which is there to that extent. You also see the gross margins. In Q4 we are almost at about a 40% gross margin as compared to possibly a year before which was at something like about 44% or a 45% kind of a zone.
The deficit is about, you know, if you see about a 4% kind of a deficit which is there. The rest is kind of getting covered a lot by the fact that, one, the percentages, like you can calculate is that TiO2 goes in a certain percentage across the variable kind of products in a very different manner. Some products TiO2 is higher, some products TiO2 is lower. And similar story is for solvents to that extent. And in our base there is a larger quantum of water-based anyway. We kind of get shielded if there is a larger solvent-based, increase which kind of takes place. Which means that for every company, the kind of inflation would be very different depending on the product mix in terms of what they have.
From that point of view, today, I think, the gross margins in Q4, which are closer to about 40%, as I said, they are possibly 4%-5% lower than a year before kind of margins which were there to that extent. I think we were pretty comfortable to that extent. It's only in Q1 where we are seeing another 5%-7% kind of an increase, against which we have already taken, almost about a 1.8%-2% kind of a overall increase. I think the calculation which we need to kind of take is, different. This way, what you are kind of arriving at possibly doesn't come to, you know, the numbers which I am indicating to you.
Amit, while we are at it, can you also help understand the, you know, the so-called mix impact that we are really seeing, right? I mean, that was a number that used to be about 4%-6% depending on which quarter we are talking about. If I look at the volume growth number is to the value growth number that you reported for Q4, the so-called mix dilution impact seems to be of the order of 10%-11%.
No. You're talking of the product mix contribution in terms of solvent and water-based?
No, I'm talking about, you know, based on the headline price increase that, you know, you've talked about over a period of time, I would think that the Y on Y increase in headline paint prices is about 20% plus.
Okay.
You reported about a 21% value growth in the paint business against which the volume growth is 8%. Right? The implied pricing component in your growth is just about 13% versus your headline price increase of more than 20%. The mix, the adverse mix impact seems to be like 9%-10% versus what used to be about 4%-6% earlier.
No. Richard, see, I think the other problem which is there is that, see, for quarter when you calculate, it becomes a different picture because there is a raw material inventory of the previous quarter which carries on to the subsequent quarter for two months or so. It is very difficult to put a quarterly number to that extent in terms of looking at it. You'll have to look at that yearly number in terms of what I just gave you in terms of the overall kind of margins in terms of what we are enjoying to that extent, as of now to that extent. I said that what you'll have to look at from the point of view that overall we have grown by a value of about 37% this year in terms of what you see.
We have taken price increases which are about 24%-25% in terms of, which are there. The total inflation which we are talking is about 34%-35% kind of a zone, 32%-34% kind of a zone. I think those are the numbers which possibly you'll have to crunch to kind of understand. I don't think so you can go quarter to quarter.
Okay, let me ask an easier one. You talked about non-direct dealer, right? You know, of which you are now doing. Can you help us understand how big is that part of the business? I mean, how much is that contributing to the revenue now?
Actually there is no concept like a non-direct dealer because see there are dealers which are paint dealers and there are dealers which we are touching through the distributor to that extent. Okay? I think this is a combination where there are distributors now who are supplying some part of the paint, some part of the waterproofing, some part of the wood finishes to that extent. It is a mixed kind of a zone in terms of what is there. I would principally qualify that with all these 1.45 lakh retail outlets, we are almost directly in touch either with the dealer or through the distributor.
Okay. All right. I'll probably take it up with Parag and Mr. Chairman when we meet up.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Sure.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Mr. Varun Singh, who has joined us on the teleconferencing platform. Sir, please, state your name and company name and ask your question.
Yeah, thanks for taking my question. My name is Varun Singh from IDBI Capital. My question is on home improvement business. How do we expect to share management bandwidth given that we expect this category to become quite meaningful in next three to four years? What changes should we expect with regards to how we wish to drive growth in all the three categories? I mean, the kitchen bath business, waterproofing, and the other home improvement categories. If you can share some thought over this point, sir.
What we are doing is that, as and when we are kind of adding these businesses, for example, the moment we added a fabric kind of a business, we've added people both from the point of view of sales and marketing to that extent which is there. Similarly, as the lighting business kind of comes in and in terms of other categories. There is a set of design professionals we are adding who have competencies with respect to some of these categories. Then there are salespeople who possibly are able to kind of leverage these kind of categories to that extent. There is a third set of people like the people who are trained slightly, especially to kind of take it to the architects and the designers to that extent.
What we are progressively doing is that as and when we are adding the categories, we are looking at adding numbers in terms of that particular category. At the same time, at the core of it, we are putting a very strong design structure which are there, which will include specialists who would kind of come into each category and they will look at new ranges, new designs, which would kind of come in, which would kind of match with what's really happening as overall trends in India and the world.
Understood, sir. I mean, broadly, we are not expecting much changes at the top management level with regard to how we wish to manage the growth in these three categories for next maybe three, four years.
Today we are putting people at GM and VP level as well in terms of some of these categories, to that extent. It's not that, you know, there is a very strong, you know, that there is a CEO or someone kind of coming as a category to that extent. I think it is more at the possibly mid-management to a senior level in terms of what we are putting, along with the people who are coming to manage the overall areas with the network and also with the designers.
Understood, sir. Second question is on the number that you have given is quite encouraging with regards to more than doubling the number of stores from 29 to 70 by the end of the current financial year. With regard to how we wish to sell the products in the home improvement category, sir, I mean, how are you thinking with regards to, you know, selling this product under one roof, rather than trying to sell it through a distributor-led model, the way we have changed the distribution model in the paint business? Any insights that you can share on the distribution approach, why only through stores and why not through distributors? That will be helpful.
Actually it's a dual selling strategy which is there. The larger propositions are basically the Beautiful Homes Store, which I spoke of, which from 29 we will take to that number of 70 in terms of what we are talking of. These stores would be bigger sellers because they are kind of pitching to the consumer the full kind of home décor at one shot in terms of the whole area of design and execution in a strong manner. The other structure which we have is that like we have a structure in kitchen and bath, where we have a set of dealers and distributors who are independently selling kitchen and bath products. Similarly, in fabric, we have now almost a 500-600 kind of retail set, which is kind of selling the fabric as well.
When we acquired White Teak, they have their own stores which are coming with the acquisition to that extent. As we kind of go forward, you will have a dual structure of selling where there is a consolidated home décor being sold through Beautiful Homes. Then each of the categories is being sold by the network in terms of what we create around those possibly to be sold to that extent. They kind of sell only one or two categories, whereas the store will sell close to about anywhere between 12-16 categories.
Understood, sir. Thank you very much for the detailed answer.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Mr. Amit Sachdeva, who has joined us on Zoom. Sir, please unmute yourself, state your name and company name and ask your question.
Hi, good evening, everybody. Thank you for taking my question. My name is Amit Sachdeva from HSBC. I have, sir, two questions. First, coming back on margins. You know, last year, as you rightly said, that 400 BPS margin has come down when it was 44% and Q4 is ending at 39% and a bit. Now, going ahead, there are two issues. One, basically there is some inflation, as you say, in Q1, but can you also describe the mix effect which could be different in Q1 relative to Q4? Also in this context, given the base is benign, should we look at now gross margin being sort of expansionary rather than contractionary in this particular year in FY 2020? What is your tentative thinking right now?
We are not asking for any guidance, but seems like you're in a comfortable position relative to margins. Your volume base is very high, but margin base is very benign. How are you thinking about it? Related question to that is, strategic, whether Asian Paints as a leader would like now margin to actually hover around 41%, 42%, but not go back to 44% because there's so many new entrants. Would you like to keep the maybe pricing discipline maybe enforced in some sense that there is no question, is there a competitive angle to it as well? That's question number one. And then I'll ask my second one.
Okay. First of all, when we look at the whole story of margins, going to Q1, I don't think that there is a very strong change in the mix which kind of really happens because, you know, the quarter to quarter, we don't see too much of a mix change which happens except for a little bit in and around the Diwali in terms of what we see that around that 4 weeks to 6 weeks there is a little bit of a different kind of a mix which gets invoked. Otherwise, I don't see that there is going to be a mix which is going to be very, very different in terms of going forward.
The other thing is that, currently, as you said rightly, we've reached about a 40% kind of a gross margin which is there. As we see it, a 44%-45% kind of a margin is a little bit unrealistic in terms of going forward. I think it was also when possibly the prices were at its lowest in terms of the inflation was just not there. In fact, it was more of a deflation at that point of time to that extent. Therefore, we would kind of really see it that we keep it in that band of 41, 40 to 42 kind of a percent in terms of the overall gross margins going forward.
With respect to pricing, I think what we are very clear is that we would very clearly look at a certain modeling it around the price elasticity, where we can see that there is a certain affordability which we can get to the customer because we would not like that the demand should kind of get affected. We would be responsive as a leader in terms of looking at that, in terms of how we would like to kind of peg the overall pricing. Going forward, in terms of, we would still kind of see that we would like to maintain that band of 18%-20% from the point of view of the EBITDA margins going forward as well.
I think that is the dual role in terms of what we will keep on playing, in terms of saying that how do we kind of really peg our pricing, how do we look at our overall EBITDA margins in terms of this thing. Because what we see is that this year, again, the volatility of inflation will continue to some extent. We are not getting an indication that the second half of the year currently is kind of giving us any comfort that it will be benign in terms of the inflation from an inflation point of view. I think we will have to keep on looking from quarter to quarter in terms of how we do.
As I said, your price increases will have to be calibrated to see that what gross margins you are maintaining and possibly what is the kind of work which you are doing with respect to cost saving as we kind of go forward. I think it will be a combination of all that.
Yeah. That's very, very helpful, Amit, and thank you so much for this. My second quick question is on decor business. In decor, basically, obviously there's a service element, there's a product element, and then you are combining various elements together, including lighting, furniture, design element, bathroom fittings to kitchen stove. It is an entire repertoire of basically new home to existing home being renovated. I can clearly see the value proposition. You also describe this affordable luxury proposition, and so you are targeting a typical household, I can imagine. In that, you know, can I get your thoughts a little bit more clear as well here is that, you know, whether the real focus is on selling product and value capture is largely on the product or traded product or our own product or services element, which are integrated with it.
My sense is services should be free and product is where you're capturing the value. Is the service element entirely outsourced? How are you integrating that? Because it's a very complex ecosystem that is interacting. It's not very simple. It may sound very simple, but how are you balancing these so many elements interacting? Have you executed few projects already? What was the size of those projects so far in the month it has been launched? What is the kind of learning so far? If you can help us explain the way we can understand the business and model it going forward. Theoretically, it can be humongous opportunity, but can a company like Asian Paints capture value in the product but not in service? My worry is that a company like you can capture value in the product but not in service.
Services can complicate the hell lot, because it just brings an element which you compete with all sorts of random people. Sorry about long questions, but you get where I'm coming from.
Yeah. No. Just to clarify, first of all, I think, we are looking at value in terms of a combination of offering inspiration to the customer, which is in terms of visualization. Second, in terms of the qualities or what we bring it in the product, in terms of what we are offering. And the third element, which is very important, is the whole area of execution and bringing delight to the consumer. If you look at today, in the world, there is no player who offers visualization coupled with execution to the hilt, along with basically a product proposition which is built into that extent. I think, what we are trying is something which is, you know, as you rightly said, it is complex, but it is immutable, as I said.
It cannot be copied by anyone because once you build the servicing edge, along with the fact that you have, not only a traded product but your own product, which is kind of giving you margins to that extent, and you have a very strong visualization story which you are able to give to the customer, I think it is a lethal combination in terms of what you can offer to the customer. We have kind of gone into all the elements here. If you look at from the Beautiful Homes service point of view, we have kind of executed it across about now, I think 900 to about 1,000 customers, across the country.
We have done jobs which vary from as low as INR 50,000 to INR 1 lakh to as high as about INR 2 crore to INR 3 crore as well, to that extent, for various kinds of customers to that extent. I think we are getting a very strong hang of it in terms of what we need to kind of do to that extent. It is done very strongly through an angle of supervision, which kind of comes in to that extent. Because we feel that, if we kind of just leave the execution to the market, it kind of really plays havoc in terms of what it does to the overall product execution piece and the delight it kind of brings to the consumer to that extent.
I think that is the model in terms of what we are looking at. Especially, I think this model is not applicable for categories like there could be a retailer who's just selling bath taps. Now, if he's selling just bath taps, it's like basically he's just selling taps to a customer to that extent. When you come to a Beautiful Homes, you are selling the full home to the customer, along with the element of visualization, product quality, and a certain element of execution which kind of comes in.
Sure. Thanks so much, Amit. All the best for this. Thanks a lot.
Thank you, sir. Our next question is from Percy, who has joined us on Zoom. Sir, please unmute yourself, state your name and company name and ask your question.
Hi, this is Percy Panthaki from IIFL. Sir, this year has been a splendid year for you with very high volume growth of about 30%. Looking ahead, I see sort of two headwinds for you in terms of volume growth for FY 2023. One is the high base effect that you are sitting on for FY 2022 on a comparator YOY basis that may dampen your FY 2023 growth. The second is the significant almost 25% kind of price increases that you have taken, which in turn, as you mentioned, there is some amount of price elasticity issues there.
In light of these two issues, on a YOY basis for FY 2023 as a whole, do you think it is possible that volume growth would slip to low single digit or zero kind of number? Because we are seeing, of course, not exactly comparable category, but we are seeing many FMCG companies now post a 0% kind of volume growth, even with an 8%-10% kind of price increase. Paints of course is less penetrated and therefore you have new products also waterproofing putty, which are growing much faster, et cetera. Just your thoughts on how we can look at volume growth for FY 2023 YOY.
Okay. First of all, I think, if you look at the CAGRs in terms of what we have been posting for the two and three years, you are seeing that, both on volume and value, we have been able to post, very, very strong numbers. If you compare to a relatively normal year, which is 2018-2019, which is before the two COVID years to that extent. I believe that the company has taken a very, very strong focus in terms of driving that trajectory, through a range of kind of, strategies in terms of what are involved in terms of going forward. Second, if you look at a trend of, Q4 over a volume growth of 48% as a base, you were still able to grow at an 8%.
I said that Feb and March were high growth, double digit volume months for us because this 8% primarily has come because January was down because of the COVID to that extent. Despite the price increases where we realize the full value in the Q4 month, you know, we have seen still a 8% growth with Feb and March at high double digit volume growth to that extent. Now, which only gives the indication of the fact that you are able to kind of still kind of propel the demand from the point of view of how customer is seeing it, and we are seeing that opportunity across the category of products.
Whether it is upgradation of emulsions, whether it is from the point of view of upgradation of people from economy to premium to luxury as a pyramid in terms of how you want to kind of go forward. Or whether it is in case of looking at transitioning people from solvent-based to water-based, or from the point of view of saying that you put a regimen of people putting undercoats to that extent. I think there is a range of strategies in terms of what we are kind of taking, and we find that there are certain categories like waterproofing and wood finishes, which are also growing quite spectacularly overall to that extent, in addition to the fact that you are getting a lot of innovations in the market.
I think we are pretty confident that going forward, despite the base, as you rightly mentioned, of 31% volume growth, that we should be definitely kind of look at, if nothing less that, you know, something like, definitely a double-digit volume growth going forward is what we are definitely endeavoring in terms of going forward. We think that it is possible given the range of strategies in terms of what we are taking. The fact that this year we are seeing that if it is a COVID-free year, we definitely see that there is a lot of pent-up demand over the last two years, which will aid this kind of a strategy of growth.
Thank you, sir. We'll be taking our last question now from Mr. Sujay Kamath, who has joined us on Zoom. Sir, please unmute yourself, state your name and company name and ask your question.
Yeah, hi. Thanks a lot for taking my question. My question is a little more longer term, you know. I'm just trying to understand the long-term growth of the industries. On one side, if I look at, you know, organized players such as you, over the last, in fact, if I go back to some of the previous presentations that you gave, it appears that over the last three-four years, you have actually doubled your volume growth, your volumes, which is amazing on the decorative side. But when I look at, you know, data like TiO2 consumption in the country, which is basically a mix of imports as well as domestic production, you know, TiO2 demand in India has only grown at 7% over the last 10 years.
In fact, it's even slower over the last three, four years. I'm just trying to, you know, connect the demand for TiO2 versus the kind of growth that the organized sector is witnessing. I mean, something like 100% growth over the last four years. You know, in that context, how does one look at, you know, the proportion that the organized sector has captured unorganized, and how does one look at long-term growth?
Okay.
That's my first question.
Okay, let me just answer that straight away. If you look at various profile of products, you know, they have a very different level of TiO2 consumption depending on what the product is. Right from an undercoat to a top coat, which is economy to mid-end to high-end, every product will have a very, very different level of TiO2 consumption. You can't correlate paint growth to the TiO2 consumption straight away to that extent because it might not be a straight correlation, but it would be a complex correlation in terms of how it kind of comes by. Point one.
Second is that, today TiO2 being the most costly element in paints, all companies are looking at seeing lots of measures in terms of how they can bring down the TiO2 consumption, both from the point of view of innovation in manufacturing, better dispersion technologies, and also looking at, a lot of, alternate raw materials which have come in the last about three-four years, which basically the kind of decrease their TiO2 consumption in the paint. This category is what we call as the opacifiers, which basically gives the hiding to the paint and basically, removes the need in terms of putting that quantum of TiO2 into the paint to that extent.
I think given these kind of overall measures which are happening, and then there are various grades of TiO2, which is the chloride and the sulfates and so on, so forth, to that extent, which kind of gets used in different percentages, again, depending on the product which is there to that extent. I think given this whole area in terms of what you kind of look at it, would not be clearly correlatable with basically the TiO2 consumption. As I said, the larger imperative of the entire industry is that, they are looking at more and more places they can replace TiO2 with better technologies, both on manufacturing as well as alternate RMs.
That was our last question. May I now request Mr. Amit Syngle to deliver his closing remarks, please?
Okay. I think good. I think we tried to see that we could kind of give you some larger kind of clarification, and that is why we had a slightly longer presentation today in terms of the various aspects. I think thank you all for coming today and really asking some incisive questions which are there. I think it's always good to kind of see that we are able to answer those questions and give you some clarity in terms of how we are proceeding and what is really happening with the organization. Thank you once again for coming for this investor conference, and have a great season ahead. Thank you.