April 18 (Reuters) - PPG Industries ( PPG ) missed

first-quarter revenue estimates on Thursday due to sluggish

demand in its industrial and performance coating businesses.

Quarterly net sales fell about 2% to $4.31 billion from a

year earlier. Analysts had expected $4.43 billion.

Net sales of PPG's industrial coatings segment fell 3% to

$1.70 billion, from $1.75 billion a year earlier, due to lower

selling prices and slightly lower sales volumes.

Its performance coatings segment's net sales fell about 1%

to $2.61 billion in the quarter, hit by lower sales volumes.

The company reported an adjusted profit of $1.86 per share

for the quarter ended March 31, in line with analysts' average

estimates.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based firm reaffirmed its 2024

adjusted earnings per share forecast in the range of $8.34 and

$8.59.

However, the company's adjusted earnings forecast for the

second quarter is between $2.42 per share and $2.52 per share,

below analysts' estimate of $2.55 per share.

The industrial coatings maker said it benefited from

businesses in Mexico and China but was impacted by lower demand

in Europe, including an early Easter holiday which reduced the

number of selling days in March, and ongoing tepid global demand

for industrial coatings.

"Looking ahead, while global industrial production remains

at low absolute levels, we believe that demand in China for our

products will deliver solid organic growth," said PPG CEO Tim

Knavish.

PPG also authorized a $2.5 billion share repurchase program.

The company said it is executing on the strategic reviews of

the architectural coatings business in the U.S. and Canada and

the global silicas products business, and targets to "determine

a path forward for each of these assessments no later than the

third quarter."

PPG had said in February that it would review strategic

alternatives for its architectural coatings business in the

United States and Canada, less than two months after the paints

and coatings maker said it was reviewing alternatives for its

silica products business.