Post demonetisation, Asian Paints (APL) recorded strong volume growth of ~11% YoY in Q4FY17 supported by a recovery in demand from tier II and tier III cities. However, the realisation remains muted due to a change in the product mix and some trade discounts in January. Further, industrial paint demand (automotive, powder coating) stayed intact from auto OEM, industrial liquid paint segment APL recorded ~80 bps decline in gross margin due to rising raw material prices in the last two quarters. To offset the rising raw...