KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Karex Bhd (KL:KAREX) slipped into the red in the recently-ended quarter, as the world’s largest condom maker was hurt by US reciprocal tariffs and declining export receipts.

Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2026 (3QFY2026) was RM6.37 million, compared with RM5.09 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue, meanwhile, fell 22% year-on-year to RM105.58 million on lower bulk sales of personal lubricants and condoms.

“In the near term, our group will have to contend with headwinds arising from the global macroeconomic climate such as volatile foreign exchange rates, rising operations costs and supply chain disruptions that are expected to persist due to geopolitical uncertainty,” Karex reiterated.

Karex exports over 90% of its output, producing in high volume for brands like Durex and catering to the United Nations among other institutional programmes, making its revenue highly sensitive to the strength of the US dollar.

Every 10% depreciation of the US dollar against its reporting currency ringgit would have reduced its after-tax profit by about RM4.6 million in 2025, according to the company’s own analysis.

The latest loss marked its second consecutive quarter in the red. For the first nine months of its financial year, Karex reported a net loss of RM3.5 million versus a net profit of RM9.67 million in the same period last year.

Revenue fell 4.3% year-on-year to RM361.26 million as lower orders of condoms and personal lubricants from the tender market offset higher sales of the newly-launched line of synthetic condom.

No interim dividend was declared for the current quarter.

Shares of Karex fell 1% or 0.5 sen to close at 48 sen, valuing the company at RM501 million ahead of the results announcement on Monday.