Riverstone’s Q1 2024 net profit rises 54.5% to RM72.2 million

GLOVE maker Riverstone Holdings’ : AP4 0% reported a net profit of RM72.2 million (S$20.7 million) for the first quarter of its 2024 fiscal year ended Mar 31, a 54.5 per cent increase from RM46.7 million for the same period a year earlier.

This marks its fifth consecutive quarter of sequential growth, said the company in a bourse filing on Thursday (May 9).

Revenue for the Malaysian glove maker came in at RM249.5 million, a 4.8 per cent rise from a year earlier. The increase was primarily driven by higher sales volume from the cleanroom glove segment following the recovery of semiconductor and consumer electronics industries.  

Its costs of sales went down by 13.7 per cent to RM152 million for the quarter, allowing the company to achieve a 57.3 per cent jump in its gross profit to RM97.5 million.

The gross profit margin improved to 39.1 per cent from 26 per cent due to the higher average selling price and lower costs of sales.

Riverstone recommended an interim dividend of four sens per ordinary share, which translates to a dividend pay-out ratio of 82.1 per cent for the quarter.

Earnings per share stood at 4.87 sens, higher than 3.15 sens a year earlier. 

Riverstone’s chief executive officer Wong Teek Son said that the company is better positioned to capitalise on the uptrend given that its product mix entails higher-value customised products.

“Going forward, we will continue to focus on increasing our product value and new customer acquisition through customisation. Moreover, we are optimistic about the growth prospects of our core cleanroom glove segment. The recovery in the semiconductor and consumer electronics industries by end-FY2024 will drive orders for our gloves,” he said.

The company is also building new production lines to increase its capacity for cleanroom glove production to support its longer-term demand.

Shares of Riverstone fell 0.6 per cent, or S$0.005, to close at S$0.775 on Thursday.