BUZZ- PREVIEW-India's Asian Paints drops ahead of Q3 results

Shares of Asian Paints ASPN.NS fall 0.7% ahead of Q3 results due later in the day; benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI up 0.9%

Analysts, on avg, expect the paintmaker to report a ~21% y/y fall in Q3 consol profit to 11.42 bln rupees ($131.3 mln), per data compiled by LSEG

At least three brokerages said demand slowdown in the industry persisted in Q3, after weak growth in H1, due to increased competition, lower volumes and pricing pressures

ASPN first to report Q3 results among major Indian paint companies

Analysts on avg rate ASPN "hold", same as peers Berger Paints BRGR.NS and Kansai Nerolac KANE.NS -LSEG data

YTD ASPN, BRGR up 0.5% and ~8%, while KANE down ~7.5%

ASPN's fwd 12-month PE is 45x, 11th highest on Nifty 50 and just higher than BRGR's 44x; KANE's PE is 27x -LSEG

($1 = 86.9720 Indian rupees)