Top Glove posts record quarterly revenue on stronger glove sales

STRONGER glove sales lifted results for Top Glove Corporation in its first quarter.

Net profit increased 4.5 per cent to RM110.1 million (S$36.2 million) from the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Monday evening.

For the three months ended Nov 30, revenue jumped 34.5 per cent to RM1.26 billion from the previous year. This was also its highest quarterly sales revenue to date. The expansion in revenue was due to the group's robust sales in both developed and emerging markets.

"The new capacity available from the newly completed factories and higher utilisation, coupled with ongoing internal improvements, resulted in better efficiency and profitability ... However, higher interest cost from the funding for mergers and acquisitions and organic expansion has resulted in a lower profit before tax margin for this quarter," it said.

On the cost side, raw material prices were mixed. The average price for natural rubber latex was 24 per cent lower than a year ago, while the average nitrile latex price surged 24 per cent year-on-year.

Earnings per share edged up to 4.31 sen from 4.17 sen in the previous year. Net asset value per share edged up to RM0.97 as at Nov 30, from RM0.94 three months ago.

Top Glove shares ended one Singapore cent or 0.5 per cent lower at S$1.98 on Monday.