Asian Paints, one of India's largest paint companies, today posted a consolidated fall in net profit of 50 per cent at Rs 59 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2008, as surging expenditure eroded the company's margins.
The company had reported Rs 118.8 crore as net profit for the same quarter in the previous year.
Net sales of the company, however, grew by 12 per cent for the reporting quarter at Rs 1,333 crore as compared to Rs 1,190 crore posted by it in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
Shares of the company rose by 2.1 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange and closed at Rs 922.60.