GLOVE manufacturer Top Glove Corporation Bhd posted a 9.3% increase in net profit to RM115.68 mil in its second quarter ended Feb 19 from RM105.79 mil a year ago on the back of higher revenue of RM1.23 bil versus RM1.16 bil.
In a statement on March 19, the company said the higher net profit was a result of tax incentives from its ongoing expansion, as well as unutilised tax allowances from some of its subsidiaries.
For the six months just ended, Top Glove’s net profit rose 5.2% to RM227.11 mil from RM215.85 mil a year ago while revenue increased to RM2.44 bil from RM2.42 bil.
The company said in a statement the increase in revenue was attributable to strong growth in the nitrile glove segment, where there was a 14% yoy increase in sales volume in 2QFY20.
The company said it recorded significant progress in Aspion’s performance arising from enhancement initiatives implemented over the past two years. Sales volume for Aspion’s surgical gloves grew 29% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.
Raw material prices for 2QFY20 remained mixed. “The average price for natural rubber latex concentrate was RM4.37/kg, up by 5.8% and 19% versus 1QFY2020 and 2Q19 respectively,” said the company. Meanwhile, the average price for nitrile latex was US$1/kg, declining by 5.3% quarter-on-quarter and 8.3% year-on-year.
Top Glove said it will continue to expand its operations in line with the growing glove demand globally to ensure it is well-positioned to help protect and save lives, particularly in view of the ongoing outbreak of Covid-19.
It added that in recent weeks, the company received strong sales orders from Europe, US and other countries as well, following the rapid spread of the virus.
With current utilisation levels above 90%, Top Glove is able to further ramp up production close to 100% to meet the surge in demand. Moreover, it has new capacity coming onstream with additional 24 lines, giving a total capacity of 3.2 billion pieces of gloves per annum when fully operational.
By December 2021, Top Glove is projected to have a total of 861 production lines and a production capacity of 91.1 billion gloves per annum. – March 19, 2020
