Pidilite Industries on Thursday reported a 96.43 percent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 307.44 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021. The leading manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals had posted a profit of Rs 156.51 crore in the January-March period a year ago, Pidilite Industries said in a regulatory filing.

Bharat Puri, MD of the company said that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting demand substantially.

“Demand conditions are inversely proportional to the intensity of the pandemic. We saw April start well, but as lockdowns started happening, we saw demand conditions in those places get hit. Now in May, we are in a situation where 75 percent of the country is under lockdown. So, demand conditions are hit. So, the pandemic is clearly impacting demand substantially and I suspect it will remain for May and June,” he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

The company reported a 700 basis points reduction in EBITDA margin quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and a 450 basis points reduction in gross margins. Puri that the gross margins continue to be impacted by significant inflation in input costs.

“While we are seeing unprecedented increases in input costs, these are supply constraint dependent rather than result of great demand conditions. So, we do believe that in the second half of the year these will start moderating. We will hopefully try and manage within our band,” he said.

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(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)