Glove stocks under pressure, Top Glove falls below RM4 level

Glove stocks under pressure, Top Glove falls below RM4 level

KUALA LUMPUR (July 5): Top Glove Corp Bhd’s share price slipped below the RM4 mark today, dropping by as much as eight sen or 1.99% to RM3.93, its lowest level since May 2020.

The counter pared some of the losses to settle at RM3.95 at the close of trading, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM32.42 billion. Some 22 million shares changed hands.

Top Glove’s peers also came under selling pressure, with Hartalega Holdings Bhd dropping one sen or 0.14% to close at RM7.01, for a market capitalisation of RM24.03 billion.

Supermax Corp Bhd went down 12 sen or 3.72% to close at RM3.11, while Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd lost one sen or 0.32% to RM3.07.

Smaller cap glove counters were not spared from the selldown, with Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd closing down 2.5 sen or 2.92% to 83 sen, Comfort Gloves Bhd down seven sen or 3.54% to RM1.91 and Careplus Group Bhd down two sen or 1.21% to RM1.63.

Self-regulation is key as people can cheat despite layers of oversight, says Top Glove executive chairman

KUALA LUMPUR (June 29): Top Glove Corp Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said self refereeing and self-regulation are key in the running of any organisation.

In the group’s latest annual report, Lim said checks and balances ensure that people behave right, but noted that people will cheat no matter how many layers of oversight are implemented.

“I have been a golfer for many years. Any golfer will tell you that this sport forces us to self referee and self-regulate our behaviour. We do not necessarily need a third party to check on us. In short, you are the player and referee.

“This rule is applicable and relevant in the running of any organisation. Systems and processes, audit and compliance mechanisms are added oversights on human characters and behaviours. These checks and balances ensure we behave right. Countries and businesses invest a lot in them.

“People can cheat no matter how many layers of oversight we implement and institute,” Lim said.

He added that Top Glove emphasises the values of honesty, integrity and transparency to ensure that each individual in the company self regulates their actions.

“We are answerable to ourselves and our conscience for all our actions first and foremost, followed by the people who may be affected by our actions: our family, friends, colleagues, shareholders and stakeholders,” he added.

He added that recruiting and nurturing employees with high integrity and ethics will be the focal point of Top Glove’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and commitments as it builds towards becoming a Forbes and Fortune Global 500 company.

“Further and in line with our commitment of doing well by doing good, I am pleased to share that we have delivered a strong performance for 3QFY21.

“Top Glove’s sales revenue was RM4.16 billion, up 147% year-on-year (y-o-y), while profit after tax came in at RM2.06 billion, 490% higher than 3QFY20.

“We declared a dividend for 3QFY21 of 18 sen per share, comprising a special dividend payout of 21% plus 50% per the company’s dividend policy,” he said.

However, he noted that quarter-on-quarter sales revenue fell 22.42% to RM4.16 billion from RM5.37 billion, and profit after tax fell 29% to RM2.06 billion from RM2.9 billion.

At 12:30pm, Top Glove’s share price slipped four sen or 0.95% to RM4.27, giving it a market capitalisation of RM35.04 billion.

Glove shares fall after opening up as record high Covid-19 numbers drive sentiment

KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Share prices of rubber glove manufacturers Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd and Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd erased gains after opening higher today on profit taking as investors continue to weigh Malaysia’s record high daily numbers of new Covid-19 cases.

At the time of writing today, Hartalega’s share price fell 21 sen or 2.75% to RM7.43, Supermax shed eight sen or 2.29% to RM3.42 while Kossan was nine sen or 2.74% lower at RM3.19. Top Glove Corp Bhd fell three sen or 0.74% to RM4.01.

Earlier at 9am today, Hartalega’s share price opened up five sen or 0.65% at RM7.69, Top Glove rose five sen or 1.24% to RM4.09, Kossan added four sen or 1.22% to RM3.32 while Supermax was four sen or 1.14% higher at RM3.54.

According to RHB Research, Supermax witnessed a strong uptrend reversal as it breached the 21-day average of closing prices on the surge in trading volume.

The research house noted a bullish bias was found above the RM3.38 resistance turned support level, and said if the price remains above RM3.38, the bullish momentum may push it towards the resistance level of RM3.76, followed by the RM4.00 psychological barrier.

However, if Supermax falls below RM3.26 support level, this will erase all gains.

Meanwhile, HLIB Research said a breakout above the downtrend line at RM4.13 will push Top Glove share price higher to RM4.26-4.58 levels, thanks to bottoming up technicals. Meanwhile, its support level is at RM3.64-3.85.

“Despite the oversold relief rebound yesterday, the bears could still continue to control the market as long as the benchmark fails to clear above the key resistances situated at 1,526-1,545-1,556 levels successfully, in wake of the economic and corporate earnings risks amid the heightened Covid-19 situation.

“Nevertheless, significant fall is likely to be cushioned near 1,490-1,500 levels by the progressive vaccination roll-outs, and about 12.8% of the nation’s population were now fully inoculated with two doses (vs 4.4% a month ago). If the current pace persists, Malaysia is on track to achieve the herd immunity target at 80% of the population by end-2021,” said HLIB Research.

Yesterday (July 15), Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement that Malaysia’s daily number of newly confirmed Covid-19 cases rose to a record high of 13,215, from 11,618 reported on Wednesday (July 14).

Active cases shot up to 108,369, while total cases rose to 880,782.