THartalega posts net profit of RM54.9mil, declares dividend

PETALING JAYA: Hartalega Holdings Bhd has posted a net profit of RM54.9mil for the fourth quarter ended March 31, up 11.6% from RM49.2mil last year.

Revenue came in at RM305mil, up 8.9% from last year’s RM280mil, on increase in sales volume and strengthening of the US dollar.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the manufacturer, retailer and wholesaler of latex and nitrile gloves said the stronger dollar had mitigated the effect of lower average selling price from declining raw material prices and a more competitive selling price.

However, operating profit margin reduced from 24% to 22.2% due to start-up expenses from the Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC) project on increase in maintenance and natural gas costs.

Hartalega had completed the acquisition of land for the NGC project, with a major portion used to build six high capacity manufacturing plants that will house 72 production lines, it said. The total budget project cost including land cost comes up to about RM2.26bil.