D’NONCE Technology Bhd chief executive officer Tho Yow Yin believes that the boost from Covid-19 to the healthcare and healthcare support sectors may taper off, but the group has its fundamentals in place.
“Even before Covid-19, we were already consistently producing profits. Momentum-wise, we still see the trend for healthcare support going up, as Covid-19 was only a booster,” said Tho.
He also explained that there were several false signals with regard to personal protective equipment (PPE).
According to Tho, face masks were first in short supply, then there was apparently an oversupply.
“However, a lot of the oversupply did not meet international standards, due to the manufacturers being backyard operations hopping on the bandwagon. In the base case, there will still be a raise in the demand for PPE, which we at D’Nonce support through packaging,” said Tho.
Looking forward, Tho believes that the extra demand will still be there, though a slowdown may happen.
“Even if Covid-19 goes away, the aftereffects will still linger, and the use of masks and gloves will still be recommended, especially when handling food,” said Tho.
At the same time, he remains optimistic as he believes Malaysia has a first mover advantage when it comes to healthcare support and equipment, due to Malaysia being one of the largest producers of gloves.
“A slowdown might happen, but the PPE production sector will still be a major portion of earnings, and I don’t see it plunging. It is not a volatile situation,” noted Tho.
He opines that even if a vaccine is found right now, it will still take some time, even years, for people to be fully inoculated.
“The sense of the new normal is around as well, with people more conscious of social distancing,” said Tho, who is also confident in the group’s steps to ensure they are not overinvesting and stretching the group thin.
At 11.20am, D’Nonce’s shares were last traded at 33 sen, up a sen, with 5.4 million shares changing hands. – July 14, 2020
