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Top Glove pin hopes on rising ASPs to improve earnings in FY24

Friday, 06 Oct 2023 6:25 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove Corporation Bhd is banking that an uptrend in the average selling prices (ASPs) of its gloves will lead to higher earnings in the next six to 12 months.

Executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai said the ASPs have hit an all-time low and are likely to increase for the world’s largest glove manufacturer, in tandem with higher raw materials costs.

The ASPs are likely to go up because it is already very low, so the chance for it to go up is more than 90 per cent.

"Meanwhile, the price of raw materials, especially nitrile and natural rubber latex concentrate, have also increased, so there is a high chance that the ASPs will increase,” he said during the glove maker’s fourth quarter and full financial year ended Aug 31, 2023, virtual briefing today.

Lim said the sales volume was down by 9.5 per cent and exam gloves ASPs were down by 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of FY2023 (4Q FY2023) versus 3Q FY2023, attributed to higher competition from the Chinese market.

"The monthly sales volume decreased for the last quarter because China’s glove selling price is low.

"We are not willing to sell below variable cost and we do not want to sell too low so that the market will not press down the prices,” he said.

The monthly sales volume eased after an ASP upward revision and minor adjustment in 2023 due to cost pass-through from lower raw material prices while maintaining a certain level of margin.

Meanwhile, managing director Lim Cheong Guan said sales volume was on an uptrend from June 2023 onwards and the company is optimistic about achieving a 10 per cent increase in its sales volume month-on-month.

"Customer inventory is close to depletion and glove order trends indicate glove demand is gradually picking up.

"In the meantime, global glove consumption has gone up post-pandemic on the back of elevated hygiene and health awareness,” he said.

For raw materials price outlook in 1Q FY2024, Lim said nitrile is expected to rise due to an increase in feedstock price while natural rubber latex concentrate is expected to go down down due to weak demand.

Natural gas is expected to drop further by five per cent in October 2023 given that global natural gas is on a declining trend having reached its peak in October 2022. - Bernama

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Stock: [TOPGLOV]: TOP GLOVE CORPORATION BHD

2023-10-06 21:19 | Report Abuse

Top Glove to return to profitability by financial year 2025
Asila Jalil
By Asila Jalil
October 6, 2023 @ 5:44pm

KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove Corporation Bhd expects to turn profitable by financial year 2025 (FY25) on the back of improved utilisation rate.

Executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai said the company's total utilisation rate currently stands at 30 per cent based on 95 billion total capacity.

"The utilisation rate for Top Glove is about 30 per cent for the past six months based on the 95 billion total capacity and we think the glove market is improving. "At current 30 per cent, we already see improvement in our earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).

"So give us another 10-20 per cent to reach 50 per cent (utilisation rate) then we will be profitable. Maybe that would take another six to 12 months. "By FY25, we will be making profit," he said during the Top Glove's results briefing for the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY23.

For the quarter under review, the company said sales volume was down by 9.5 per cent following a drop in average selling prices (ASPs) by 0.5 per cent.

For the coming quarters, Top Glove managing director Lim Cheong Guan said ASP's trend will be parallel to prices of raw material.

"I think the raw material price will fluctuate. I would not say that ASPs have bottomed out but it will be more in line with raw material prices in the coming quarters.

"ASP will come down if raw material prices come down and the same goes if raw material prices increase. ASP will track closely the prices of raw material," he said.

Lim said the probability of ASPs going up in the coming quarters is more than 90 per cent.

"Prices of raw materials especially nitrile latex have increased so there is a very high chance that they will increase the selling price. We can see this in next three months," added Lim.

For nitrile, the company expects the price to increase in Q1FY24 due to increase in feedstock demand.

However, latex prices is expected to drop in Q1FY24 due to weak demand.

Commenting on its Chinese competitors, Lim said it is a "good sign" that there are players running at above 90 per cent utilisation rate as it signalled a pick up in market demand.

"This shows that market demand for gloves is coming up since most of the stock have cleared so its good news.

"Malaysian players running below 50 per cent utilisation rate is also good news because it means we reduce supply to the market to ensure the stock will clear. "The glove industry is till a good industry. The demand is always there so we should not oversupply," said Lim.

To date, the company noted the price gap between Chinese and local glovemakers have narrowed to between US$1-US$2 from US5 previously.

The gap with Thailand had also shrank to about US$1.5 from US$2-US$3 six months ago.