Nippon Paint Posts Record Third-Quarter Revenue of ¥523.7 Billion
Key Facts
Nippon Paint posted record revenue of ¥523.7 billion and record adjusted operating profit of ¥84.2 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, according to the company’s results presentation. Revenue rose 12.4% year on year, from ¥465.9 billion in the same period, while adjusted operating profit increased 15.3% from ¥73.1 billion. The adjusted operating margin was 16.1%, up 40 basis points year on year. Adjusted earnings per share also rose 19.9% to ¥25.7. The company attributed revenue growth to an improved product mix, expansion in adjacent businesses and a favorable foreign-exchange effect, while linking higher profit to revenue growth and an improved raw-material cost ratio.
Profitability gains were uneven across regions, with China recording revenue growth alongside a decline in adjusted operating profit. The segment posted revenue of ¥135.4 billion, up 8.1% year on year, while adjusted profit fell 12.3% to ¥15.5 billion. The company said the favorable foreign-exchange effect lifted revenue by more than the continued weakness in China’s property market and the decline in consumer and market sentiment weighed on it. Higher raw-material cost ratios and selling, general and administrative expenses, however, pressured profit despite increased sales. In Europe, revenue rose 4.6% to ¥42.1 billion, but adjusted operating profit fell 7.8% to ¥3.5 billion.
The company attributed the decline in European profit to lower decorative-paint volumes and a higher selling, general and administrative expense ratio. By contrast, Nipsea excluding China delivered growth in both revenue and profitability, with revenue rising 9.3% to ¥117.3 billion. The segment’s adjusted operating profit increased 24.6% to ¥24.8 billion. The company said performance benefited from growth in several regional markets and an improved raw-material cost ratio. The results highlight differing conditions across the group’s markets, with revenue growth in China and Europe but declines in their adjusted profits, compared with improved profitability at Nipsea excluding China.
Nippon Paint expects its adjusted operating margin to decline in the fourth quarter from the 16.8% recorded in the same period a year earlier. It also forecast a 5% to 10% year-on-year fall in adjusted operating profit and a roughly 20% decline in adjusted earnings per share. The company attributed margin pressure in part to higher raw-material cost ratios across regions. It added that China and Europe are likely to fall short of their annual forecasts amid difficult market conditions. In a second-quarter update, the company had said weak consumer sentiment was constraining demand for repainting in China, and that it was avoiding over-selling to channels and managing inventory in preparation for the second half.
Despite its fourth-quarter outlook, the company left its fiscal 2026 annual forecast unchanged. It is targeting revenue of ¥2 trillion and adjusted operating profit of ¥316 billion. It also maintained its forecast for an adjusted operating margin of 15.8% and adjusted earnings per share of ¥95.7. In its second-quarter update, the company had said it expected some margin pressure in the second half as the effect of lower-cost inventory faded. It said then that its forecast did not assume a recovery in demand, consistent with its current indication that market challenges in China and Europe will persist.
As part of its regional expansion, Nippon Paint announced on October 5, 2026, the acquisition of Akzo Nobel’s decorative-paints businesses in Southeast Asia. The company said completion of the definitive transactions is expected in mid-2027, while the separate transaction in Indonesia is expected to close in late 2026. The company’s shares, listed under the ticker 4612.T, closed at ¥1,421.5 on November 10, 2026. In China, the National Bureau of Statistics’ schedule lists the release of the monthly retail-sales report and commercial-housing price report on November 16, 2026. The publication dates on the schedule remain provisional and subject to change.