KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 7): Car leather upholstery maker Pecca Group Bhd, which announced its venture into personal protective equipment (PPE) production in late June, has decided to purchase additional face mask machinery to expand its production capacity.

Managing director Datuk Teoh Hwa Cheng said the decision was made after the group received encouraging sales leads for its PPE products.

“Our cleanroom facilities are already up and running,” he said in a statement today. “Mass production for the 3-ply face masks has already commenced, while the N95 face masks production line is undergoing test runs at the moment. We expect the mass production of N95 face masks to commence within this month.”

Pecca said its subsidiary Pecca Leather Sdn Bhd has obtained the ISO13485:2016 Quality Management System Certificate for the design and manufacturing of non-woven Jumpsuit, isolation full set cover, isolation cap cover, isolation shoes cover, face shield, 3-ply and N95 face mask for surgical/medical and general use.

The company added that it has registered with the Medical Device Authority (MDA) of Malaysia for the establishment license to commence the sale of its PPE products.

Expanding its horizons to the export market, Pecca said it is applying for certification from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CE marking from European Union for its PPE offerings.

Pecca was among the multiple non-healthcare-linked companies foraying into PPE, the demand for which has surged with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The firm has allocated a capital expenditure of RM2.2 million for the purchase of machinery and setting up cleanroom facilities for face masks production. It added today that it is purchasing additional machinery to boost face mask production capacity.

Though PPE would constitute a new revenue stream, Pecca’s core business would remain manufacturing and supplying automotive leather seat upholstery.

Pecca’s second quarter revenue took a hit from the pandemic, falling 33.08% to RM23.20 million from RM34.66 million a year ago. The company did manage to turn out a profit for the quarter, albeit 92.49% narrower at RM341,000, compared with last year’s figure of RM4.54 million.

Pecca shares closed six sen or 5.26% lower at RM1.08, valuing the group at RM190.9 million. Around 18.33 million shares were traded today. At the current price, the counter is back at where it started off this year, after having fallen to a low of 72.5 sen on March 18.

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