Top Glove withdraws application for Hong Kong listing; will resubmit at later date

AFTER a delay in its plans for a US$1 billion dual primary listing on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), Top Glove on Wednesday announced that it has withdrawn its listing application submitted to the Bursa Malaysia, which lapsed on Aug 26.

The company, now dual-listed in Malaysia and Singapore, said it will resubmit a listing application to the Malaysian bourse after it re-submits its listing application to the HKEX.

Top Glove said it will make the relevant announcements on this later.

To recap, the company's Hong Kong listing, first announced last October, hit several roadblocks in the past few months. The company's reputation and business had notably been affected by a ban from the US customs.

In June, the company reportedly delayed plans for the listing as it moved to resolve an import ban on its products by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), amid the discovery of forced-labour practices in the company's production of disposable gloves.

The CBP had in July 2020 issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO), based on "reasonable but not conclusive information" that multiple forced-labour indicators existed in Top Glove's production process.

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However on Sept 10, the CBP announced that it would now allow imports after a thorough review of evidence showed that the company has addressed all indicators of forced labour.

Top Glove is set to announce its financial results for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2021 ended August on Friday.

Shares of Top Glove closed flat on Wednesday at S$1.04 on the Singapore bourse, and fell 0.9 per cent or RM0.03 to RM3.20 on the Malaysia bourse.