An early festive season coupled with re-stocking of inventory (as GST impact subsiding) helped drive the volume growth of Asian Paints (APL) by 9% YoY (decorative segment) in Q2FY18. Additionally, the price hike to tune of ~5% helped in sales growth of ~14% YoY. However, the automotive coating JV (PPG-AP) witnessed subdued demand in the auto OEM and general industrial business segment. Under overseas operation, Nepal, Bangladesh, Oman and Bahrain witnessed healthy topline growth...