KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Comfort Gloves Bhd’s net profit almost doubled to RM16.34 million in the first quarter (Q1) ended April 30, 2020, from RM8.41 million in the same quarter last year.

The maker of natural and synthetic examination gloves attributed the better performance to higher revenue and lower production cost due to increased productivity.

Stronger sales volume boosted its revenue by 27.5 per cent year-on-year to RM152.91 million, the Perak-based company announced to Bursa Malaysia today.

The company, which derived 87 per cent of its revenue from synthetic gloves in the last financial year, said prospects of the rubber glove manufacturing sector this year remained strong with increasing demand arising from the trend towards switching to nitrile gloves.

"With the recent coronavirus pandemic, we expect glove consumption to increase in the long run due to  rising global health awareness,” Comfort Gloves said.

The company said its marketing team was capitalising on the shortage of gloves globally to aggressively expand its customer base for continuous market expansion and future growth.

Based on its 2020 annual report, its biggest markets are Malaysia and other Asian countries. — Bernama