Malaysia's Top Glove charts another record quarterly profit in Q1

The performance was slightly below the 2.48 billion ringgit estimate by one analyst polled by Refinitiv. The manufacturer posted a record quarterly net profit of 1.29 billion ringgit in the previous period, when it announced plans to list in Hong Kong next year.

Malaysia's Top Glove Corp on Wednesday posted a more than 20-fold jump in first-quarter net profit, beating record earnings of three months ago thanks to high demand for gloves, efficiencies in production and higher selling prices.

This was despite rising raw material prices due to less favourable weather conditions and supply constraints. Net profit for the September-November period grew 2,030% to 2.38 billion ringgit ($585.49 million) from 111.4 million ringgit a year ago, the world's largest glove manufacturer said in a filing to Malaysia's bourse.

Revenue rose 294% to 4.76 billion ringgit. The performance was slightly below the 2.48 billion ringgit estimate by one analyst polled by Refinitiv.

The manufacturer posted a record quarterly net profit of 1.29 billion ringgit in the previous period, when it announced plans to list in Hong Kong next year. "We have had a strong and healthy start to FY2021, which sets a positive tone for the rest of the year," Managing Director Lee Kim Meow said in a statement.

Top Glove said higher sales orders, capacity building and productivity improvements would boost the group's performance going forward. Top Glove shut some of its factories in Malaysia in phases last month, after an outbreak that saw more than 5,000 of its workers test positive for COVID-19.

The company had said the temporary closures could lead to delivery delays and cut sales this financial year by about 3%. Even so, it remained optimistic in its outlook.

The company estimates that glove demand will grow by 20% this year, 25% next year and 15% post-pandemic. It was in a net cash position of 3.45 billion ringgit at the end of November.

($1 = 4.0650 ringgit)