PETALING JAYA: Hartalega Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019 fell 24.67% to RM94.06 million from RM124.87 million a year ago, due to lower sales volume and higher cost.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Hartalega said it incurred higher packaging, electricity, heat and labour costs during the quarter.
Revenue for the quarter fell 9.38% to RM640.1 million from RM706.35 million a year ago, dragged down by lower sales volume during the quarter.
Moving forward, the group said it is optimistic of longer term prospects underpinned by growing demand for rubber gloves, its ongoing Next Generation Integrated Glove Manufacturing Complex (NGC) expansion and potential growth of antimicrobial gloves sales, for which it has received orders from customers in over 20 countries.
Construction of Plant 6 structure at the NGC facility is currently underway while construction of the supporting facilities will follow in the second half of 2019. Plant 6 will have an annual installed capacity of 4.7 billion pieces.
Plant 7 is also in the expansion pipeline and will have an annual installed capacity of 3.4 billion pieces. Hartalega’s annual installed capacity is expected to increase to 44.7 billion pieces by financial year ending March 31, 2022 from 36.6 billion with the progressive commissioning of Plants 6 and 7.
