This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 16, 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Hartalega Holdings Bhd, the world’s largest synthetic glove manufacturer, saw its net profit jump 30.4% to RM116.65 million in the fourth financial quarter ended March 31, 2018 (4QFY18), from RM89.43 million a year ago.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Hartalega attributed the improved quarterly performance to favourable demand from customers, in tandem with an improvement in production capacity to meet growing demand, and a net foreign exchange gain of RM18.8 million.
This resulted in higher earnings per share of 3.53 sen in 4QFY18, compared with 2.72 sen in 4QFY17.
Quarterly revenue also rose 17% to RM616.84 million in 4QFY18, from RM527 million a year ago, on a strong growth in demand for nitrile gloves and continuous internal initiatives to improve production capacity, which increased the sales volume by 30.1%.
It also declared a third interim dividend of two sen per share for the financial year ended March 31, 2018 (FY18), payable on June 27.
For the full financial year, the group posted a 55.3% increase in net profit to RM439.4 million from RM283 million in the previous year, while revenue grew 32% to RM2.41 billion in FY18, from RM1.82 billion in FY17.
In a separate statement, Hartalega managing director Kuan Mun Leong said the group had commissioned all 12 production lines of Plant 4 of its Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex.
“We target to commence commissioning of Plant 5 in July 2018, and subsequently the construction of Plant 6. We are planning to construct an additional Plant 7 to focus on small orders and specialty products,” he said.
Kuan added that the group is set to launch its antimicrobial gloves in Europe on May 31.
“We are in the process of securing approval from the US federal [Food and] Drug Administration to enter the US market with this latest product,” he said.
Kuan said the company is confident it will be able to propel forward in FY19, driven by its strategic expansion plans and product innovation.