According to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in its third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report on Nov 13, the country’s economy saw improvement in the third quarter of 2020 recording a smaller contraction of -2.7 percent (compared to -17.1 posted in the immediate preceding quarter (Q22020)), mainly driven by the reopening of the economy from Covid-19 containment measures and better external demand conditions.
The central bank expects the country’s economy to improve further into next year in line with better global demand and a turnaround in public and private sector expenditure amid various domestic policy support. In addition, the continued financial measures and low interest rate environment are also expected to lend further support for economic activities.
Going forward, Mah Sing plans to launch more projects in the affordable segment such as Carya in M Aruna, Rawang and Acacia link homes in Meridin East, Johor, in the remainder of 2020. This will be driven by further emphasis on digital marketing efforts to reach out for interested home buyers.
Since early this year, the Group has also collaborated with Maybank Islamic to offer HouzKEY, an alternative financing solution under our ‘Eazy to Own’ campaign for selected Mah Sing projects. This home financing solution enables buyers to own their ideal home with easy entry and low monthly instalments, which is helpful to address home buyers’ pain points and ease their home ownership journey.
“Mah Sing remains focused and is positive that its property projects will continue to gain traction from buyers. This is mainly driven by its projects that are located in strategic locations and offering the right products that are at affordable price points in line with market demand,” Leong Hoy Kum elaborated.
As a measure to enhance the Group’s medium term financial performance, Mah Sing has also proposed the diversification of the principal activities to include manufacturing and trading of gloves and related healthcare products.
There have been rapid developments by major pharmaceutical companies around the world recently towards Covid-19 vaccine discovery, which is expected to help the recovery of those affected including economies and businesses globally, given the impact Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon since early this year.
Based on a RHB Investment Bank’s report dated Nov 19, a deployment of Covid-19 vaccine could be a new demand source for gloves, possibly up to 18 billion pieces per annum, having assumed that 60 percent of the world’s population of 7.5 billion people will get the vaccine in two dosses annually.
As each contact with a person should lead to the usage of one pair of disposable gloves, a vaccine development will generate demand of 18 billion pieces per annum in the short term, and that the demand will recur on annual basis if the vaccine protection period is only up to a year.
Mah Sing believes that the demand for gloves is expected to remain strong post-pandemic, following stricter regulations and higher hygienic awareness. There is also room for further growth within the industry especially in emerging markets where glove consumption per capita is still low compared to developed countries.
