Riverstone Holdings has reported lower earnings of RM144.7 million ($43.85 million) for the 1HFY2025 ended June 30, down 29.6% y-o-y.
Earnings for the second quarter alone declined 19.6% y-o-y to RM45.4 million, and revenue declined 3% y-o-y to RM244.8 million.
The group’s revenue for the reporting period came in 0.1% y-o-y higher at RM497.1 million. Gross profit came in 24.8% y-o-y lower for 1HFY2025 at RM147.9 million, resulting in gross profit margin declining 9.9 percentage points (ppts) to 29.7%.
The group says that its 1HFY2025 revenue performance was supported by higher sales volume of healthcare gloves amid strong market demand, partially offset by lower cleanroom glove volumes as well as foreign exchange translation losses due to a weaker US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit.
Gross profit decline was due to unfavourable foreign exchange rates due to the depreciation of US dollar against the Malaysian ringgit, as well as the product mix shift toward generic healthcare gloves.
In addition, full depreciation costs from new capacity that remained idle due to domestic gas supply disruptions in 2QFY25 also contributed to the decline. On a positive note, cleanroom glove demand remained stable on a sequential basis. Raw material prices eased slightly and are expected to remain stable in the near term.
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The group’s board of directors has declared an interim dividend of 2.5 sen for the 2QFY2025, translating to a cumulative dividend payout ratio of 80.1% for 1HFY2025.
The group’s executive chairman and CEO Wong Teek Son says that he expects stronger contributions from the cleanroom glove segment in 2HFY2025, underpinned by increasing demand from data centres and AI-related industries.
Shares in Riverstone Holdings closed 1.5 cents higher or 2.113% up at 72.5 cents on Aug 7.
