Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) surged nine times to a record high of RM86.57 million from RM9.26 million a year ago, on higher demand for glove products and higher average glove selling prices.

Its quarterly revenue also jumped more than two times to RM175.24 million, from RM66.43 million a year ago, its filing to Bursa Malaysia showed.

The group did not declare any dividend for the latest quarter.

The group said its reported profit included a gain of RM5.9 million from the dissolution and deregistration of Rubberex (Hong Kong) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, from the Companies Registry of Hong Kong in February.

"Overall, operational profits from the sale of gloves (disregarding the exceptional gain of RM5.9 million above) were attributable to the consistently strong demand for the group's products namely household, industrial and nitrile disposable gloves in the midst of heightened health and safety awareness during the pandemic, higher average glove selling prices and improved production efficiencies," it said.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the group's net profit rose 45.66% from RM59.44 million in 4QFY20, while its revenue increased by 14.67% from RM152.83 million.

Going forward, the group said it remains focused on its nitrile disposable glove division, with the latest commissioning of its new production lines in stages since late 2020.

"The group's order books for 2.5 billion pieces of nitrile disposable gloves have already been fully taken up for the rest of the year and the improved efficiency is expected to contribute positively to the group's earnings for FY21," it said.

Meanwhile, Rubberex's managing director Khoo Chin Leng said in a statement the demand for gloves and other personal protective equipment is still steadfastly strong and notwithstanding robust vaccination programmes globally, disposable gloves remain persistent at the forefront of protection, safety and hygiene.

He added that all five double formers nitrile disposable glove production lines from the new factory have started operating since late last year and the total output has increased from one billion pieces to 2.5 billion pieces per annum.

Backed by its sole largest shareholder Datuk Eddie Ong Choo Meng, Rubberex is also poised for expansion at its new 11.9-acre manufacturing site in Lahat, Kinta District, Perak later this year.

"In the immediate pipeline is our latest phase to instal additional production lines capable of producing up to 7.5 billion pieces of nitrile disposable gloves annually by next year; these represent a significant 300% boost from our current 2.5 billion pieces to 10 billion pieces," Ong said.

According to him, the construction of factory buildings and fabrication of machinery will commence later this year with targeted mass production by the second half of 2022 and shall be financed by a combination of internally generated funds and bank borrowings.

At noon break, Rubberex rose one sen or 0.87% to RM1.16, valuing the group at RM965.44 million.

Edited ByLam Jian Wyn
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