TOA fears 5% drop in housepaint sales

“Our total sales might drop about 5 per cent after our sales in October sank 30 per cent from the same month of last year,” Jatuphat Tangkaravakoon, managing director of TOA Paint (Thailand) Co, which controls half of the market, said yesterday.
The flood-hit areas of Bangkok and its suburbs account for about 40 per cent of household-paint sales in the country, he said.
November also looks set to decline about 30 per cent.
“We reduced our production from 100 per cent to 80 per cent when our supply chain faced logistics problems. Our suppliers cannot deliver raw materials to us when they encounter floods on the way,” he said.
Demand from both affected end-users and residential projects has been drying up. This will directly hit TOA’s business this quarter.
However, after the flood ends, all the residences that have suffered flood damage will have to be renovated. That will start driving its sales back up in about a month after the flood ends, Jatuphat said.
Following the market trend, the company is preparing a special campaign by offering discounts of 3-7 per cent to help flood victims repair their homes.
The cost to repaint a residence is about Bt20,000 for a space of 60 square metres, of which Bt8,000 is for the paint and about Bt12,000 for labour.
The company also will help its dealers by providing more than Bt10 million for maintenance of their paint machines.
Staff at TOA outlets have been encouraged to pitch in to help flood victims. On average 90 volunteer for flood-prevention activities, including filling sandbags.
“We believe that all parties have to help flood victims if they can,” Jatuphat said.