AkzoNobel will review its business portfolio in South Asia, with the initial focus on decorative paints, the Dulux paint maker said last night, as it continues its efforts to cut costs and boost its core coatings business.
Through the business review in the region, which the Dutch company called "ripe for consolidation", it will explore options like partnerships, joint ventures, mergers or divestitures.
"This strategic review represents a key step towards focusing our portfolio on positions of differentiating scale in key coatings markets," CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume said in a statement.
AkzoNobel, which has been battling a post-Covid slowdown, rising raw material costs and customer destocking, last year set out a cost-saving plan that included improving the efficiency of its supply chains.
It has since announced plant closures in Ireland, the Netherlands and Zambia, to be completed by the end of 2024, and plans to cut more than 5% of its workforce.
Workers at Dulux's paint factory in Cork in July voted to accept redundancy terms offered by AkzoNobel, with the plant to shut by the end of the year.
The Dutch multinational has confirmed that the factory on the Commons Road will be closed on a phased basis by 31 December, resulting in the loss of 45 jobs.
In the first half of the year, the company's decorative paints business in Asia generated €528m in revenues and accounted for about 24% of the unit's total revenue of €2.20 billion.
In 2023, the South Asia Pacific region accounted for 12% of AkzoNobel's annual revenue of €10.67 billion.
