(Reuters) – Sherwin-Williams raised its annual profit forecast on Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, as price hikes helped offset lower sales volumes across its businesses, sending its shares up 2% in premarket trading.
Paints and coatings makers have been able to offset the impact of slower-than-expected recovery of key end markets by raising prices of their products.
CEO John Morikis said though the company delivered a strong quarter it was against the backdrop of “an environment where demand remained highly variable by end market and region, and against a challenging prior year comparison.”
Chemical makers had flagged a potential blow in the second half of the year from a slower-than-expected recovery in China following its post-pandemic reopening and lower demand in Europe.
Profit at the company’s Paint Stoes Group unit rose 23.8% to $917.5 million, while sales saw just a 3.6% jump, helping offset weak performance in its volumes in its consumer brands unit.
The company raised its forecast, and now expects full-year adjusted income between $10.10 and $10.30 per share, compared to prior forecast of $9.30 to $9.70 per share.
However, Morikis warned that “our fourth quarter is a seasonally smaller one, and we continue to expect choppiness by region and end market.”
Sherwin reported a profit of $3.20 per share for the quarter ended September 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.77 per share, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru)
