Asia Paints’ Second '902 Zhong’ai Festival' Unveils Its Grand Retail Blueprint! Strategic Partnership with Global Giant RPM Launched! Six-Business Promotional Carnival Begins!

Grateful for the encounter, honoring true devotion. At 9:02 a.m. on September 2, Asia Paints’ second '902 Zhong’ai Festival' grandly opened at its Shanghai headquarters—kicking off simultaneously the Company Anniversary Day, Brand Day, Brand Month, and Culture Festival. Guests gathered from near and far: domestic and international partners, industry elites, and numerous media representatives joined either in person or via live streaming to celebrate this 'Zhong’ai' (devotion) event and jointly explore the vast business opportunities underpinned by high-quality development. Amid fluttering banners and thunderous cheers onsite, Mr. Hua Hai, Director of the Group’s Brand & Marketing Department, delivered the opening speech. He briefly outlined the background and origin of Asia Paints’ '902 Zhong’ai Festival', emphasizing that it represents a mutual commitment between Asia Paints and all its stakeholders—under the banner of 'Zhong’ai' (devotion). Internally, it serves as 'Asia Paints Day', boosting employee initiative, vitality, and corporate pride—making Asia Paints a milestone of honor for current and former employees alike. Externally, it functions as 'Brand Day (Month)', raising broader awareness, understanding, and affection for the Asia Paints brand. Leveraging this festival as a catalyst, Asia Paints collaborates with ecosystem partners to co-create shared value, jointly exploring expansive long-term business opportunities—and officially launching its time-limited promotional campaign across six core business lines. Ms. Wu Xiaoyan, General Manager of the Group’s Consumer-End Marketing Management Center, shared Asia Paints’ strategic vision for its large-scale retail business. She noted that China’s vast market—with its deep geographic reach, multi-tiered distribution channels, and diverse consumer needs—cannot be adequately served by a single brand alone. Asia Paints pioneered the 'Large-Retail Strategy' in the industry: maintaining the core identity of the 'Asia Paints' master brand while building a diversified brand matrix—including premium and value-oriented sub-brands—to complement it. This dual engine—comprehensive product portfolio plus a multi-brand matrix—enables full-channel penetration and meets the needs of customers across all tiers. Asia Paints’ Large-Retail Strategy sets the ambitious goal of 'One Distributor, One Hundred Million RMB, One Hundred Years': selecting 300 prefecture-level city distributors within three years; establishing over 3,000 large-retail specialty stores within ten years; reaching more than 100,000 sales points and one million contractors; and achieving an annual revenue scale of RMB 30 billion. Asia Paints has already taken solid steps toward building this brand matrix—introducing Rust-Oleum, a world-class consumer brand, to target the premium segment and young DIY consumers. Within three years, Asia Paints and Rust-Oleum aim to jointly open 800 Rust-Oleum branded specialty stores; achieve over USD 100 million in brand revenue within five years; and reach USD 1 billion in annual revenue within ten years—co-writing a brilliant chapter of brand collaboration and market expansion. In front of all attendees, Asia Paints officially announced its strategic brand partnership with global consumer leader Rust-Oleum. Mr. Nigel Meakins, Managing Director of RPM Consumer Group Asia-Pacific, attended the ceremony in person, introducing RPM Group and the Rust-Oleum brand, and expressing firm confidence and determination in forging a shared future together. He stated that RPM Group is the third-largest coatings and chemical company in the U.S. and the fifth-largest globally. Its 2023 fiscal-year revenue exceeded USD 7.3 billion, ranking among the top 0.05% of NYSE-listed companies—the most outstanding performers on the exchange. RPM’s Consumer Group is one of the largest coating retailers and DIY suppliers in the U.S., headquartered in Chicago. Its products are sold through major retailers including Home Depot, ACE Hardware, and Walmart—as well as specialized neighborhood hardware stores. Its portfolio includes numerous century-old heritage brands, such as DAP (founded 160 years ago) and Zinsser (founded 175 years ago).

Four Divisions Report Sales Recovery; RPM’s Net Profit Grows Nearly 30% in Q2 FY2025

On January 7, RPM International Inc. ('RPM') announced its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 (ended November 30, 2024). The data shows that RPM achieved net sales of USD 1.85 billion for the quarter, up 3.0% year-on-year; net income attributable to RPM shareholders totaled USD 183.2 million, up 25.9% year-on-year; adjusted diluted earnings per share stood at USD 1.39, down 13.9% year-on-year; and adjusted EBIT rose 7.7% to USD 255.1 million—a new all-time high. Frank C. Sullivan, RPM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated: 'All four of our operating segments posted positive volume growth and collectively achieved record consolidated sales in the second quarter. This marks our twelfth consecutive quarter of record adjusted EBIT—a testament to our employees’ dedication and the steady progress of our MAP 2025 initiative.' By business segment, RPM’s Construction Products Group, Performance Coatings Group, Specialty Products Group, and Consumer Group all reported organic sales growth during the quarter. 'Our focus on the repair-and-maintenance sector enabled us to successfully capture specific organic growth opportunities—particularly in technical solutions for high-performance construction projects. In addition, our businesses serving the residential end-market demonstrated stable performance and benefited from favorable weather conditions,' added Mr. Sullivan. Specifically, the Construction Products Group’s sales increased 4.3% year-on-year to USD 690 million; the Performance Coatings Group grew 1.4% year-on-year to USD 380 million, driven by strong performance in flooring and protective coatings for high-performance construction projects. The Specialty Products Group saw sales rise 4.4% year-on-year to USD 185 million—boosted by disaster-recovery responses to hurricane activity, robust growth in food-grade coatings and additives, and stabilizing demand from professional residential OEM customers. The Consumer Group reported USD 590 million in sales, reflecting 2.7% organic growth offset by a 0.7% negative impact from foreign currency translation.

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