• Value growth drivers: Industry-wide price increases to offset war-driven raw material inflation, combined with resilient volume demand, enabled double-digit value growth to outpace volume growth.
• Competitive intensity dynamics: Market pressure has eased slightly after a new entrant aligned its dealer billing rates to industry parity, which reduced dealer margin disparities and led some departing dealers to return.
• Decorative segment performance: The decorative business recorded 13.5% value growth in Q1 alongside profit margins of 19.5% to 20%, with marginal improvement expected in Q2.
• Automotive coating outlook: Automotive coatings registered strong Q1 demand supported by a duty reduction from 28% to 18%, and this momentum is projected to stay elevated through Q2 and Q3 before the base normalizes.