India's Berger Paints logs profit fall as unseasonal rains hurt demand

Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's Berger Paints reported a quarterly profit drop on Thursday, as an extended monsoon season hurt demand, and a one-time charge tied to the country's new labour laws also weighed.Consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December fell 8.1% on-year to 2.71 billion rupees ($30 million).CEO Abhijit Roy attributed the decline to unseasonal rains in October and a short festive period, but said demand improved progressively over the rest of the quarter. Revenues marginally rose 0.3% on-year.The paintmaker took a hit of 533.1 million rupees due to changes to the new labour laws.For further earnings highlights, click here.KEY CONTEXTAnalysts at Ambit Capital expected volume growth for paint companies during the quarter, but said a negative price mix and heightened competition would pressure revenue.Indian paintmakers have seen uneven profit trends in recent quarters, driven by a mix of demand conditions, cost pressures and other company-specific factors.Competitors Asian Paints and Kansai Nerolac have both reported a fall in quarterly profit, weighed down by a one-time charges linked to the new labour laws.PEER COMPARISONValuation Estimates Analysts'(next 12 (next 12 sentimentmonths) months)RIC PE EV/E Pri Reve Prof Mea # of Stoc DivBITD ce/ nue it n anal k to yielA Sal grow grow rat ysts pric des th th ing e (%)* target**Berg 42. 26.4 NUL 8.76 14.1 Hol 21 0.86 0.79er 18 5 L 3 dPaintsIndiaLtdKans 23. 14.7 NUL 7.93 16.1 Hol 11 0.85 1.13ai 62 5 L 1 dNerolacPaintsLtdAsia 49. 32.6 NUL 6.91 10.7 Hol 35 0.89 1.02n 08 4 L 8 dPaintsLtdAkzo 27. 17.9 NUL 2.42 19.3 Buy 2 0.81 3.46Nobe 97 5 L 9lIndiaLtd* The mean of analyst ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PTOCTOBER-DECEMBER STOCK PERFORMANCE-- All data from LSEG-- $1 = 90.3070 Indian rupees(Reporting by Mridula Kumar; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)