By Angus Whitley
June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Top Glove Corp., the world’s largest rubber-glove maker, said profit growth this fiscal year may be double the company’s earlier estimate after swine flu bolstered demand and the cost of raw materials fell.
Net income at the Malaysian company in the year ending Aug. 30 is on course to climb at least 30 percent, Executive Director Lim Cheong Guan said in an interview. That would swell earnings to a record 143 million ringgit ($40 million). Top Glove earlier forecast growth of 15 percent to 20 percent.
Swine flu is increasing global purchases of protective examination gloves more than expected, Lim said. At the same time, a stronger dollar is driving up the value of sales reported at home from the U.S., Top Glove’s biggest market, and lower latex prices have cut production costs.
“This year, it’s all tailwinds,” Lim said late yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. “Following quarters should be good.”
Top Glove shares, which have soared 86 percent this year, traded unchanged today 6.50 ringgit at 10:28 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur. The benchmark Composite Index added 1.1 percent.
Net income at Top Glove in the fiscal third quarter ended May 31 climbed 62 percent to 42.2 million ringgit, the company said yesterday. Sales rose 4.4 percent to 372 million ringgit. The glove maker proposed an interim dividend of 7 sen a share, higher than the 5 sen payment a year earlier.
“A year’s party in the making,” AmResearch Sdn. said in a report today, repeating a “buy” call on the stock. AmResearch expects Top Glove to report annual profit of 149 million ringgit.
More than 52,000 cases of swine flu have been reported by at least 90 countries, the World Health Organization said this week. Selangor-based Top Glove said yesterday the virus may swell global demand by as much as 15 percent in the next few months, triple the company’s initial forecast.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angus Whitley in Kuala Lumpur at awhitley1@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment