Comfort Gloves posts record earnings in Q4 despite shipment delays

KUALA LUMPUR: Comfort Gloves Bhd said its near term financial prospects remained strong after the company posted its best ever quarterly performance.

The company told Bursa Malaysia today that shipping delays due to port congestions and slow container turnaround in the last quarter ended Jan 31, 2021 (Q4FY21) has resulted in higher than usual glove stockpile going into the first quarter of this year.

"The ripple effect of the shipping situation has caused higher inventory than usual and 25% of shipments in this quarter to be delivered to 1st Quarter of the financial year ended 2022 (1QYE22)," it said.

Despite the delays, Comfort Gloves continued to post another record quarterly profits, thanks to rising selling prices.

In the final three-month ended Jan 31, Comfort Gloves earnings soared to RM137.9mil, or 23.65 sen a share compared with RM10.2mil, or 1.78 sen a share made a year ago.

This lifted its full year (FY21) net profit to RM287mil, or 49.3 sen a share.

The group has declared a second interim dividend of 1.5 sen a share and special payout of 3.5 sen a share.

"The flexibility of the Group’s manufacturing process and customer base outside the medical market has allowed the Group to effectively manage the shortage of synthetic latex in the market," it said.

"Speciality premium gloves manufactured by the Group from natural latex are equally in demand by the Group’s partners worldwide as its synthetic latex counterpart," it added.

To meet this increased demand, Comfort Gloves said it will commission new production lines to raise production capacity by 33% towards financial year ending Jan 31, 2022 (FY22). "The current market environment has allowed the Group to work with our partners worldwide to lock in commitments for the purchase of gloves," it said.