Top Glove beats record profits, to pay special dividends

Glove maker Top Glove has continued its pandemic-season record profits, posting a 336% jump in sales revenue for the quarter between Dec 1, 2020 and Feb 28, 2021 (2QFY21) with RM5.37 billion, compared to the same quarter of last year.

Its after-tax profit came to RM2.9 billion, 24 times higher than the corresponding period last year.

The company’s net profit in 2QFY21 also rose 20.76% quarter-on-quarter, from RM2.38 billion to RM2.87 billion.

In a statement, Top Glove announced it would be paying special dividends to its 120,000 public shareholders.

“The dividend payment comprises a special dividend payout of 20% plus 50% as per the company’s dividend policy, totalling a 70% dividend payout. This amounts to 25.2 sen per share,” it said.

While attributing the strong performance to the continued global demand for gloves, the company is confident that the market will remain strong even with the delivery of vaccines to fight Covid-19.

“While demand is likely to stabilise post-pandemic, the group expects it will not revert to pre-pandemic levels owing to increased hygiene awareness as well as uncertainties surrounding the resolution of the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

Top Glove managing director Lee Kim Meow said the company was committed to ensuring the welfare of its employees, in the wake of allegations that factory workers were forced to work long hours to meet the increasing demand for rubber gloves.

“The board of directors is pleased with the company’s continued strong performance and the multiple remedial and improvement initiatives the group has implemented towards uplifting employee welfare. In both these instances, this is just the beginning for us and we aspire to do much more,” Lee said.