Invest Malaysia 2014 Karex gets sales boost from FIFA World Cup

by **Cals** Thu 12 Jun 2014, 02:56

Invest Malaysia 2014 Karex gets sales boost from FIFA World Cup

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Wei Lynn Tang of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 11 June 2014 10:22

KUALA LUMPUR: Condom maker Karex Bhd sees favourable sales for financial year 2014 ending June 30 (FY14), boosted by the FIFA World Cup football tournament in Brazil.

Ahead of the World Cup, which commences on Friday, Karex chief executive officer Goh Miah Kiat said sales to Brazil had “definitely increased for us”.

“Yes, I would say it’s a boost to our sales. The outlook for this [financial] year is good, with condom demand still going strong.

“Our Brazil market, particularly, has done pretty well this year, with all these sporting activities such as the World Cup going on,” he said.

Goh was speaking to reporters after Karex’s corporate presentation at Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2014.

Karex exports over 90% of its production to over 100 countries. For FY13, Europe accounted for 14% of its exports.

On immediate plans, Goh said the company had earmarked RM80 million for capital expenditure (capex) for its new factory in Pontian, Johor. The capex will be partially funded via Karex’s initial public offering proceeds.

The factory is expected to start production in the second quarter of next year, and will double Karex’s production capacity to four billion condoms a year from two billion.

“But I think what we’re doing different now is we’re going to go green for this factory. It’s time for us to look at not just competing [with other factories] on the same field, but to be more innovative,” Goh said.

He said the Pontian factory will feature solar panels across its roof.

“This factory will save cost. We did a calculation ... We’re generating one megawatt of electricity [for this particular factory], it will be able to substitute at least 25% of our energy usage,” he said.

Goh said besides solar energy, the company would also go for the green building index certification, and leadership of energy efficient design (LEED) certification.

“It will be the second factory in Malaysia to be LEED-certified, that’s what we believe. The first one is the Intel factory in Kulim [Kedah]. But under the category of new building, we believe we are the first in Malaysia,” Goh said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 11, 2014.