Karex shares highest since March 31

KUALA LUMPUR: Condom manufacturer Karex Bhd saw its shares surge to a high of RM3.19 at midday on Monday, the highest since March 31.

At 12.30pm, it was up 26 sen to RM3.16. There were 3.4 million shares traded at prices ranging from RM2.95 to RM3.19. Karex call warrants, Karex-CA jumped 14.5 sen to 29.5 sen with 48.86 million units done.

The FBM KLCI fell 1.84 points to 1,850.82. Turnover was 1.07 billion shares valued at RM841.46mil. There were 322 gainers, 381 decliners and 315 counters unchanged.

At RM3.16, it is currently trading at a forward price-to-earnings of 33.26 times for the financial year ending June 2014. Its closest competitor glove maker Hartalega is currently trading at a forward PE of 18.89 times.

The run-up in the share price was underpinned by its corporate exercises since its listing late last year, which included a bonus issue of 135 million new ordinary shares of 25 sen each on March 31.

The manufacturer was also spending about RM80mil to build a new factory in Pontian as part of its expansion plan. The company has factories in Port Klang and Hat Yai in Thailand.

Chief executive officer Goh Miah Kiat was quoted saying the new factory, to be built on a 7.28ha site would be completed by year-end.