Hartalega ramps up glove production to meet global demand

Hartalega Holdings Bhd, which posted record-high annual revenue for the financial year ended March 31, 2020 (FY20), will continue to expand production capacity to meet global growth in demand for rubber gloves, according to its managing director Kuan Mun Leong.

By FY22, the nitrile glove maker’s total capacity will be increased to 43.7 billion pieces, compared with 38.1 billion pieces currently.

In its financial result release, Kuan said the group will continue with its Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC) capacity expansion plans to help meet growing rubber glove demand globally.

“To this end, we have commissioned four out of 12 production lines of Plant 6 of our NGC. Construction of Plant 7 is also in the expansion pipeline.

“With progressive commissioning of Plants 6 and 7, our annual installed capacity is set to increase from the current 38.1 billion pieces to 43.7 billion pieces by FY22,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Kuan stressed that to ensure that the group continues to deliver gloves to frontliners without disruption, Hartalega had also put in place comprehensive preventive measures across its operations to mitigate risk of infection.

Hartalega rang up record annual sales of RM2.92 billion for FY20, compared with RM2.83 billion the year before.

The revenue growth was driven by a 9% rise in sales volume, the group said in a filing today.

However, the nitrile glove maker’s annual net profit dropped 5% to RM434.78 million for FY20 against RM455.18 million for the previous financial year.

For the fourth quarter, Hartalega net profit expanded 28% to RM115.58 million versus RM90.33 million a year ago. Revenue climbed 14% to RM777.9 million from RM683.23 million previously.

In a statement today, Hartalega said the solid growth was achieved on the back of higher sales revenue, lower raw material cost and reduced energy cost, coupled with ongoing cost optimisation measures.

Hartalega’s share price has soared 67% year to date to a fresh peak of RM9.13 today. This translates into an increase of more than RM11 billion in market value to RM30.9 billion.

Source: The Edge Markets