Goodlass Nerolac Paints posted a rise of 50.7% in net profits in FY06 at Rs 138.59 crore while sales moved up 15.4% to Rs 1225.98 crore.According to an official release issued today, net profits for Q4FY06 were up 11.1% at Rs 20.98 crore, when compared with 18.89 crore in Q4FY05. Gross sales in Q4FY06 increased by 16.2% at Rs 283.01 crore as against Rs 243.50 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. "Though the growth in the industrial (read auto) segment was slow, the boom in infrastructure segment has helped us grow in the decorative segment," H M Bharuka, managing director of Goodlass Nerolac, said. "The housing sector continues to offer better growth opportunities in the new fiscal. We usually expect our growth to be one-and-a-half to two times the GDP growth. If the GDP growth remains between 8-10% we can expect our growth to be in range of 15-20%," Bharuka said.However, he expressed concern over rising oil prices and upward pressure on personal loan interest rates to have a retarding effect on auto sector growth.
