INDIA FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

INDIA FIRST TO MARKET

Asia Pacific Equity Research

India First to Market 30 July 2026

Top Stories

India Pharma (Bansi Desai, CFA)

US IQVIA Pulse – Base business flattish sequentially

This report tracks US trends and performance for key Indian pharma players using IQVIA data. It also includes our US

comparison matrix, notable product-level shifts, and JPM US revenue estimates across in-market and pipeline products.

Asian Paints Limited (Latika Chopra, CFA) (APNT IN, OW)

Strong Q1 sets the canvas, watch Q2 volumes & crude

APNT’s Q1 operational performance was strong, with consolidated revenue growth accelerating to ~18%. Decorative volumes

were up +9%, aided by healthy underlying demand through the quarter and continued execution on its strategic levers—

innovation, premiumization, and a more regionalized go-to-market approach. On the earnings call ( First Take ), management

shared a confident narrative of sustaining 8–10% decorative volume growth in FY27, supported by steady demand and an

expected uplift from the festive season, even as trends in Tier-1/Tier-2 cities appeared relatively modest. B2B/Industrial

demand remained strong and rural continued to outperform urban growth. Further pricing actions (wt avg: 6-7%; mix: 3%)

across the portfolio are likely to keep the growth trajectory intact. Value–volume gap turned positive (after multiple quarters),

and management expects it to remain so until further price corrections flow through. Competitive intensity continues to remain

elevated, but APNT gained shares (vs smaller players) on the back of stronger supply-chain reliability and sourcing capabilities

during volatile periods. Despite the inflationary COGS (~25% in Q1), EBITDA margin (20.6%) exceeded the guided range of