KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 27): Karex Bhd (KL:KAREX) turned around in the recently-ended quarter thanks to US tariff refunds and price increases, though the world’s largest condom maker is flagging further cost pressures ahead.
Net profit for the three months ended June 30, 2026 (4QFY2026) was RM3.79 million compared to a net loss of RM9.46 million over the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 16% year-on-year to RM101.17 million due to lower sales of condoms, while a stronger ringgit weighed on export receipts, a bourse filing showed.
“Over the next 12 months, the group expects the operating environment to remain challenging amid continued geopolitical uncertainty, volatile foreign exchange rates and elevated raw material and logistics costs,” Karex said.
Karex is one of the corporations that have received over US$100 billion (RM402.6 billion) in refunds from the US administration after the Supreme Court’s February ruling that invalidated tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
However, US President Donald Trump has been actively trying to rebuild his global tariff wall and last slapped a 10% tariff on goods from Malaysia over forced labour allegations. Meanwhile, the costs of key raw materials, packaging and transportation have risen with the Iran war.
The company will “manage these pressures through improvements in operational efficiency, implementing increases in selling prices and supply chain diversification”, Karex added.
For the full financial year, the company made a net profit of only RM291,000 as operating profit was nearly wiped out by finance costs. Revenue fell 7% to RM462.42 million.
The company blamed steep declines in humanitarian aid funding which affected tender market sales, less favourable foreign exchange rates and the escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East that resulted in logistics disruptions.
A dividend per share of half a sen was declared and payable on Sept 11, bringing the total announced for the year to one sen.
Shares of Karex rose one sen or 2% to 50.5 sen on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM532 million ahead of the results announcement.