KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) upped its Top Glove Corp Bhd stake to 7.022% after acquiring 209,500 shares last Monday (June 13).

Rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove told Bursa Malaysia that after the share purchase, the EPF owned 87.96 million Top Glove shares.

At 12:30pm today, Top Glove shares fell five sen or 1% to settle at RM4.65 for a market capitalisation of RM5.82 billion. The stock saw some five million shares changed hands.

AllianceDBS Research Sdn Bhd wrote in a note that it maintained its "buy" call for Top Glove shares with a target price of RM7.10. AllianceDBS said its earnings forecast for Top Glove was also unchanged.

According to AllianceDBS, the research firm maintained its estimates for Top Glove for now, pending an analyst briefing this Tuesday (June 21).

"Top Glove's unit profitability has been improving steadily, backed by better production efficiency (from automation initiatives), and a stronger USD. However, the strong USD catalyst may moderate, as the ringgit starts to strengthen," said AllianceDBS.

AllianceDBS issued its note after Top Glove said net profit fell to RM62.46 million in the third quarter ended May 31, 2016 from RM72.27 million a year earlier. Cumulative nine-month net profit rose to RM295.41 million from RM177.03 million.