KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Glove-maker Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd’s net profit fell 19.2% to RM44.63 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (4QFY16) dragged down by higher operating costs and pricing pressure, compared with RM55.21 million a year ago.

According to its filing with Bursa Malaysia, Kossan’s quarterly revenue was almost flat at RM438.19 million from RM439.16 million.

The glove manufacturer said the weak earnings performance of its glove division, which is its main contributor, was mainly due to industry wide pricing pressures and higher production costs.

For the full financial year (FY16), Kossan’s net profit dipped 15.6% to RM170.93 million from RM202.53 million.

Annual revenue of FY16 grew 1.83% to RM1.67 billion from RM1.64 billion.

For FY17, Kossan said its management will emphasise improvement of operational efficiencies, quality of products and cost controls.

“Together with our expansion and transformation programme, we are confident that the group will be able to register healthy growth and earnings,” it added.

Kossan’s share price dropped five sen to RM6.48, wtih a market capitalisation of RM4.44 billion.