Riverstone Holdings Limited reported a net profit of 54.0 million Malaysian ringgit for the quarter ended 31 Dec 2025, down 23.0 per cent year-on-year but 3.7 per cent higher than the preceding quarter, as robust demand for its clean-room gloves cushioned the impact of a stronger ringgit and lower selling prices in the generic healthcare segment.
Fourth-quarter revenue slipped 9.8 per cent year-on-year to 250.7 million ringgit, though it inched up 1.3 per cent from the third quarter. Diluted earnings per share came in at 3.64 sen, versus 4.73 sen a year earlier. The board has recommended a final dividend of 5.0 sen per share and a special dividend of 4.0 sen, taking the full-year distribution to 17.0 sen and representing a 121.3 per cent payout ratio and a dividend yield of about 6.9 per cent.
Clean-room glove sales continued to benefit from capacity expansion in data-centre and artificial-intelligence infrastructure, helping offset intensified price competition in generic healthcare gloves. Group gross profit slipped 17.3 per cent year-on-year to 74.2 million ringgit, and the margin narrowed 2.7 percentage points to 29.6 per cent, mainly because the firmer ringgit reduced the value of US-dollar-denominated sales. Profit before tax fell 21.8 per cent year-on-year to 66.1 million ringgit.
Foreign-exchange losses and weaker average selling prices weighed on reported revenue, while a temporary rise in raw-material costs further pressured margins. Management said these cost headwinds are expected to persist through the first quarter of FY26 before easing from the second quarter.
The group is reallocating capacity toward higher-margin clean-room and customised healthcare gloves while remaining selective on commoditised volumes. It continues to emphasise cost controls and expects AI-related demand, particularly from memory and storage customers, to underpin gradual volume growth in 2026.
Executive chairman and chief executive Wong Teek Son noted that 2025 remained challenging for generic glove producers, yet Riverstone’s core clean-room business delivered “solid results” thanks to AI-driven orders. He added that despite ongoing currency volatility and near-term raw-material inflation, the company is confident about the long-term resilience of its model as it pivots toward specialised segments and benefits from normalising input costs later in FY26.