Dimet recently signed a three-year agreement with PPG Coating (Thailand) to become the sole distributor of the Bilux car paint brand.

Mr Suraphol said the move into car paint would help increase the company's revenues by 10 percent this year.

Dimet reported a net profit of 3.99 million baht on revenue of 140 million for the six months ending Dec 31. The company reported profits of 9.49 million on revenues of 161 million for the first half of the previous year. Declines were attributed to the slowdown in the Thai economy and the impact of the stronger baht on furniture exporters.

Mr Suraphol said the company would target its new car paint at car garages and car paint distributors. Dimet also plans to hold training programmes for its sales staff to update their product knowledge.

"We have been interested in entering the car paint segment for some time," he said.

"PPG will offer technical assistance to our staff to help us market Bilux paints. Hopefully, if we are successful with Bilux, we will have the chance to sell other paints from PPG."

Steady growth in auto sales would help translate into growth for the car paint sector as well, Mr Suraphol said.

Dimet also plans to expand its exports, now 3 percent of sales, to 5 percent next year with a focus on Vietnam. Dimet's sales for the year ending June are expected to come 40 percent from protective coatings, 30 percent from timber finishes and 10 percent to 15 percent from car paints. The remainder includes sales of metal and house coatings.

Shares of Dimet closed yesterday on the MAI at 1.47 baht, up one satang, in trade worth 4.9 million baht.