KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15, 2015: Top Glove Corporation Bhd posted an all-time quarterly high of RM161,3 million pretax profit in the first quarter ended Nov 30, 2015 — surging 172.9% compared the first quarter last year and 20.1% higher than the preceding quarter ended Aug 31, 2015.

In its Bursa filing, Top Glove said it also attained a quarterly record high of RM800.3 million, a 41% rise above the previous corresponding quarter.

"The strong US dollar and lower raw material prices have further boosted the group's performance," said chairman Tan Sri Dr Lirn Wee Choi.

"While we have benefited from the strong US dollar, our performance is not reliant on tailwinds, the effects of which are only temporal."

To cater to the growing demand for rubber gloves, he said Top Glove will continue to expand its operations and build new optimised facilities with faster, more efficient and technologically-advanced production lines towards better profitability.

"Underway are expansion plans for Factory 27 in Lukut, Port Dickson (to commence production by February 2016) and Factory 6 in Thailand (to commence production by August 2016) as well as the construction of a new facility, Factory 30 (to commence production by February 2017).

"This will boost the number of production lines to 540 and capacity to 52 billion gloves per annum.

"To complement organic expansion, Top Glove is also aggressively pursuing merger and acquisition opportunities that synergise with its current business, in similar or related industries."