KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Investment Bank Research maintained its Sell call on Hartalega Holdings Bhd despite a rebound in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) margin to 28% in the third quarter of financial year 2017, as it expects competition in the nitrile space to intensify in the second half of the year.
The research house said yesterday that the glove maker’s ebitda margin was still lower than its peak of over 30% between FY10 and FY14, during a time when the nitrile space was less crowded.