The world’s largest glove-maker Top Glove Corp Bhd is planning to launch its own condom brand called ‘Top Feel’ by the end of 2018.
Production will start by June or July this year, chairman Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai said. He also said that the business is also looking to acquire condom and glove factories now.
“Condom is a business that is related to our glove production. If we just depend on the glove business, growth may not be good enough. Especially if we aim (to become) a Fortune 500 company, we have to diversify,” he said.
“In terms of quality improvement, speed, cost and efficiency, glove has been growing and improving faster than condom because there are more players in the glove business and it is more competitive,” he said.
Lim said that Top Glove is eyeing the world market for its condom business, starting with Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Its glove business has 2,000-3,000 customers and these customers also buy gloves and condoms.
“If 1% (of our customers) buy, we already have 20-30 customers. It’s a good business to go in and a good opportunity for us to diversify. The investment is not big, it’s low risk and the potential is big.”
Top Glove’s acquisition of Aspion for RM1.37 billion is expected to complete in April, which is expected to push the group’s sales to a record RM1 billion in Q3, from RM958.4 million in Q2.
Executive director Lim Cheong Guan said the group would have reached RM1 billion in sales in Q2 if the ringgit had not strengthened 5% then.