Kansai Nerolac (KNL) recorded strong topline growth of ~18% led by volume growth of ~14% (I-direct estimate). The volume growth was largely driven by strong festive demand of decorative paints but industrial paint (topline contribution of ~45%) offtake remain sluggish due to inferior automotive paint demand from its key client. On the margin front, gross margin stayed under pressure (down 550 bps YoY) mainly due to higher raw material prices and inability to pass on higher raw material prices in the industrial paint category. As...