KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 19): Careplus Group Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (4QFY20) skyrocketed to RM42.23 million from RM783,000 a year earlier boosted by higher selling prices and strong demand.

In a bourse filing today, the glove manufacturer said its quarterly revenue grew nearly 19% to RM129.33 million from RM108.73 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

Earnings per share ballooned to 7.87 sen from 0.15 sen in 4QFY19.

The glove maker declared a special dividend of two sen per share to be paid on March 24, 2021.

For the full year ended Dec 31, 2020 (FY20), Careplus returned to the black to post a net profit of RM122.51 million from a net loss of RM5.75 million the year ago. Meanwhile revenue expanded to RM475.63 million from RM365.11 million a year ago.

The group noted that annual profit increased significantly as a result of higher sales volume, average selling price and better production efficiency. This included a one-off gain of RM15.4 million from the disposal of 50% equity interest in Careplus for the joint venture with Ansell in the second quarter.

“A larger tax provision of RM26.1 million provided in 2020 compared with tax income of RM0.1 million recorded in 2019 shows an increase of RM26.21 million. This was as a result of higher profits as well as higher provision of deferred tax liabilities,” said Careplus.

On prospects, it said it is targeting to complete the installation of its 10 new production lines by June this year.

“We are now running 30 lines with an annual capacity of 4.86 billion pieces of gloves. By mid of June 2021, we shall complete installation of 10 lines and another eight lines by the end of 2021, with an addition of nine lines in the planning stage to be completed by the end of 2022.

“As a result, the group will have 57 production lines with an annual capacity of 10.5 billion pieces of medical and surgical gloves by end 2022,” noted the glove company.

It said it also has put in place to increase surgical gloves packing facilities from 72 million pairs to 288 million pairs annually by end 2021.

“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, we are confident we will be able to commission and run all the production as planned,” said Careplus.

At the closing bell, shares of Careplus fell five sen or 2.39% to RM2.04, bringing its market capitalisation to RM1.12 billion.