PETALING JAYA: Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd saw a 2.5% increase in net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31 to RM61 million, from RM59.5 million in the previous corresponding quarter contributed by an increase in earnings from its gloves division.
The gloves division’s revenue eased 1.41% to RM512.03 million in 4Q19 from RM519.36 million in 4Q18, while profit before tax rose 5.64% to RM66.02 million in the current quarter as compared with RM62.50 million from a year ago.
The improved performance was attributed to higher volume sold as compared with 4Q18, despite higher natural gas costs, start-up costs from recently completed plants, as well as higher foreign worker recruitment costs.
Meanwhile, the technical rubber products (TRP) division recorded a revenue of RM44.93 million in the current quarter, easing 10.82% as compared with RM50.38 million in 4Q18.
PBTdecreased 42.20% to RM4.89 million as compared with RM8.46 million from a year ago due to lower sales deliveries and sales of lower margin products.
The cleanroom division recorded revenue and PBT of RM20.93 million and RM0.77 million respectively in 4Q19, as compared with RM18.83 million and RM1.10 million in 4Q18.
Revenue for the quarter declined 1.9% to RM578.3 million, from RM589.4 million.
For the full year, the group’s net profit rose 13.% to RM224.8 million, from RM198.2 million, while revenue increased 3.79% to RM2.2 billion, from RM2.14 billion a year before.
Looking ahead, Kossan Rubber said with its expansion plans and new capacity coming on-stream, as well as continued improvements in operating efficiency, the group is confident that FY2020 will be a growth year.
