THE Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG) wants to know from Top Glove Corp Bhd at the latter’s forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM) what the glove maker is doing to improve the living condition of its workers.
“What are the measures being taken by the company to address the issue of poor living conditions for workers in some of its dormitories?” asked the shareholder activism group.
According to MSWG, Top Glove was in the news in December 2020 following reports that the Labour Department had ordered a probe into the alleged poor living conditions in some of its workers’ dormitories.
“Although the company had recorded stellar financial performance for its FYE 2020, its perceived lack of attention to the living conditions of its workers may tarnish its reputation among investors who weighed ESG (environment, social, corporate governance) considerations as their prime yardstick for their investments,” MSWG pointed out.
“The company’s attention towards this matter is especially pressing as it’s a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for Emerging Markets.”
Elsewhere, MSWG also queried KESM Industries Bhd with regard to the write-down of its inventories which increased to RM1.4 mil (2019: RM200,000).
“What were the reasons for the huge increase in write-down of inventories?” asked MSWG. “Are the inventories written down still saleable? Are there any foreseeable write-downs for the financial year ending 2021?”
With regard to SYF Resources Bhd, the shareholder activism group is keen to know what measures are being taken by the company to ensure that it returns to profitability in FYE 2021.
“The company has been in a loss making position for the last three financial years (FYE 2018 to FYE 2020),” disclosed MSWG. “For FYE 2020, the company managed to reduce its after-tax loss position from RM44 mil in the previous year to RM19.8 mil.”
Finally, MSWG also probed VS Industry Bhd as to how substantial are the contracts and the respective contract periods with its two new foreign customers.
The company has recently revealed that it has made major breakthroughs by successfully securing two new US customers in August and October 2020 respectively, both of which were a result of the trade diversion.
“Is the group expecting to secure further contracts in the short- or medium-term arising from the trade diversion?” MSWG further asked. – Jan 1, 2021
