KUALA LUMPUR (July 10): Integrated Rubber Corp Bhd (IRCB) will no longer be classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company starting next Monday (July 13) after Bursa Securities approved its early upliftment.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the rubber glove manufacturer said the regulator has decided to approve its application for an early upliftment from being classified as a PN17 company after due consideration of all facts and circumstances of the matter. 

"IRCB will be uplifted from being classified as a PN17 company effective from 9am next Monday (July 13)," it added. 

"With the completion of the regularisation plan, IRCB has regularised its financial condition and level of operations and no longer triggers any of the criteria under Paragraph 2.1 of PN17 of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities," it said in the filing today. 

IRCB (fundamental: 2.1; valuation: 0) had slipped into PN17 status after its unit, Comfort Rubber Gloves Industries Sdn Bhd defaulted on RM64.2 million worth of debt obligations. It had submitted a regularisation plan on Dec 26, 2013 to Bursa Securities and obtained the green light from the latter on July 24 last year. 

The proposed regularisation plans entail an increase in the existing authorised share capital of RM200 million comprising 1,000 million shares of 20 sen each in IRCB to RM400 million comprising 2,000 million shares of 20 sen apiece. 

Subsequently, the company has proposed advance capitalisation and proposed capital reduction and consolidation.

Upon completion of the proposed regularisation plan, IRCB's authorised share capital will remain unchanged at RM100 million comprising 1,000 million consolidated shares of 10 sen each.

For the first financial quarter ended April 30, 2015 (1QFY16), IRCB posted a net profit of RM4.09 million on revenue of RM52.58 million. 

For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2015 (FY15), IRCB recorded a net profit of RM4.26 million against a net loss of RM19.26 million, while revenue grew to RM155.22 million from RM134.69 million a year ago. 

On prospects, the company said it continue strive to capture bigger market share on the growing global demand on examination gloves. 

It has also changed its production mix to produce more nitrile golves. 

IRCB shares closed one sen or 1.16% higher at 87 sen today, with 508,800 shares changing hands. It has a market capitalisation of RM373.05 million. 

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)