Hartalega’s earnings rise on higher production capacity

SUPERMAX LATEX

KUALA LUMPUR: Hartalega Holdings Bhd’s net profit rose 12.3% to RM61.7mil in the fourth quarter ended March 31 from RM54.9mil a year ago.

The world’s largest synthetic glove manufacturer’s revenue jumped 31.2% to RM400.42mil compared with RM305.11mil achieved in the same period a year ago.

Hartalega said the increase in revenue and profit before tax was in line with the group’s continuous expansion in production capacity and increase in demand. The strengthening of the US dollar also contributed to the increase in revenue.

For the full financial year, Hartalega posted a net profit of RM257.59mil, up 22% from RM209.73mil in the previous financial year. Its revenue grew 30.7% to RM1.4bil while EPS stood at 15.71 sen per share. 

“It has indeed been a strong financial year for the group, driven by growing demand and contributions from the new production lines of our next generation glove manufacturing complex (NGC),” managing director Kuan Mun Leong said in a statement. 

“Indeed, we have increased our production capacity significantly, having successfully completed Plant 1 and 2 of the NGC.”  

It has declared a third interim dividend of 2 sen per share, which brings the total dividend to date to 8 sen per share for the full financial year ended March 31, 2016.

Its earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter under review was 3.76 sen.