Hartalega 4Q net profit up 28.4% to RM115.7m

As at March 31, 2020, Hartalega’s shareholders’ funds stood at RM2.5 billion, while market capitalisation is currently in excess of RM25 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hartalega Holdings Bhd’s profit after tax (PAT) rose by 28.4% in the fourth quarter ended March 31,2020 to RM115.71mil, underpinned by higher sales revenue, lower raw material cost and reduced energy costs.

Hartalega, which is the largest producer of nitrile gloves in the world, said on Monday other factors were ongoing cost optimisation measures which helped boost the profit from RM90.13mil.

Profit attributable to shareholders increased to RM115.58mil from RM90.33mil Revenue increased by 13.8% to RM777.89mil from RM683.23mil. Earnings per share were 3.43 sen compared with 2.72 sen a year ago.

It proposed a dividend of 2.05 sen a share compared with 1.90 sen a year ago. The entitlement date is June 12 and payable on June 26.

For FY ended March 31,2020, Hartalega’s profit after tax was lower at RM435.8mil compared with RM454.9mil in FY19. Profit before tax was higher at RM556.2mil while revenue rose to RM2.92bil.

Hartalega managing director Kuan Mun Leong said, “The unfortunate Covid-19 pandemic continues to drive a crucial need for nitrile gloves across the globe. In line with this and cognisant of our role in the fight against this pandemic, the group is committed to producing our high-quality nitrile gloves at an accelerated pace to protect medical practitioners who are on the frontlines.”

“To this end, we have commissioned four out of 12 production lines of Plant 6 of our Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC). construction of Plant 7 is also in the expansion pipeline.

“With the 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 FY2022.

“To ensure that the group continues to deliver gloves to frontliners without disruption, we have also put in place comprehensive preventive measures across our operations to mitigate risk of infection, ” he said.

Kuan said beyond this, Hartalega was buying 95 acres of land in Banting, Selangot from Bonus Essential Sdn Bhd for RM263mil.

“Totalling approximately 95 acres, this land will serve as the future site of our NGC 2.0 capacity expansion plans. This acquisition will enable the group to progressively expand our capacity over the long run, to further cater to rising global demand.”

“With these plans in place, the group remains optimistic on long-term prospects as we continue to strive to meet the needs of the healthcare sector with our high-quality nitrile gloves, ” Kuan said.