PITTSBURGH _ PPG said second-quarter sales edged up by about 1 percent to $3.8 billion on slightly higher prices for its paints. But the global coatings maker said overall volumes were flat and it continued to take a hit from unfavorable foreign exchange rates.
Analysts expected sales of $3.9 billion.
Shares in Pittsburgh-based PPG were down 6 percent in midday trading _ the biggest drop in the stock in nine months.
Analysts said both PPG and rival coatings company Sherwin-Williams _ which also reported earnings Thursday morning _ had sluggish demand for paint at home improvement chains.
"Sales to big-box retailers are weaker for both of them," said Christopher Perrella, an analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.
PPG's net income for the quarter rose to $504 million, or $1.95 share, up 49 percent from $339 million, or $1.25 per share in the year-ago period.
Adjusted income of $472 million, or $1.83 per share, was up about 6 percent from a year ago and beat analysts' average estimate of $1.82 per share.
Adjusted income included an after-tax gain of $24 million on the sale of a Mexican wallboard unit and other legal and transaction costs.
Chairman Michael McGarry said strong results in the quarter were generated by the industrial coatings segment and PPG Paints stores in the U.S. that mainly serve contractors.
He said he expects to deploy cash on acquisitions and share repurchases in the second half of the year.
"We previously communicated an intent to deploy $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion ... in years 2017 and 2018, and are now targeting the upper-end of that range at a minimum," he said.
Also Thursday, PPG said Gary Heminger, chairman and chief executive of Marathon Petroleum Corp., joined its board of directors effective immediately.
