KUALA LUMPUR: Top Glove Corp Bhd 's share price fell on Monday, en route to a sixth straight day of decline, as selling momentum mounted following disappointing earnings results released last Friday.

       In post-results updates on Monday, most analysts downgraded the counter as the outlook for the group remains challenging over the near term amid the decline of average selling prices (ASP) and rising competition from Chinese rubber glove manufacturers.

       At 10.10am, the share price of the world's largest glove maker was down eight sen or 3.7% to RM2.09 on the back of 12.72 million units exchanging hands.

       For 1QFY22, the group's net profit was RM186mil, which was below expectations due to lower-than-expected volume sales and margins as input raw material cost fell slower than the sharper fall in ASP.

       "The lower QoQ sales volume was due to lower utilisation rate as customers were adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach in anticipation of normalizing ASPs and absence of restocking activities.

       "EBITDA margin fell 12ppt to 22% from 34% due to raw material price not adjusting down as fast as the falling ASP and higher average cost due to production disruption from the pandemic," said Kenanga Research in a report.

       However, Kenanga noted that Top Glove's management anticipates ASP to normalise in 1HFY22 and utilisation to rise above 55% on the back of restocking and higher usage from the economic reopening, leading to a 10% increase in volume sales.

       The group also expects input nitrile raw materials to trend down by about 40% in January 2022, which will lend support to margins.

       Top Glove forecasts 10% to 15% gloves demand growth per annum - higher than the 8% pre-Covid level - due to the increased awareness of hygiene standards.

       "Due to over-ordering in the past 15 months since the pandemic started, the market is currently undergoing a phase of inventory adjustment.

       "Post=Covid-19, inventory restocking cycle is expected to spur demand coupled with increased usage arising from new users and increased hygiene awareness," said Kenanga, following a conference call with Top Glove management.

       Post-results, Kenanga downgraded its recommendation to "outperform" from "market perform" and lowered its target price to RM2.05 from RM3.60 after slashing its FY22 and FY23 forecast net profit by 55% and 48% respectively.

       Hong Leong Bank Investment Bank Research cut its earnings forecast for FY22-23 by 39% to 73%. It lowered its target price to RM1.56 from RM2.80, and downgraded its recommendation to "sell".

       Meanwhile, AmInvestment Bank Research also cut its fair value to RM1.95 from RM2.60 due to lower earnings estimates for 2023.

       However, it shared optimism over the group's longer-term outlook. "Although its near-term outlook is tough, we believe that its long-term prospects remain bright as we anticipate Top Glove’s volume growth returning to 8–10% annually after the recent decline in volume," it said in a report.