Top Glove has proposed a bonus issue of up to 405,964,951 warrants on the basis of 1 warrant for every 20 existing Top Glove shares to reward its shareholders by giving them the opportunity to increase their equity participation by exercising the warrants at a predetermined price, announced the group in its press statement on Thursday, adding that Top Glove will continue adhere to global ESG standards. (ESG refers to Environmental Stewardship, Social Responsibility and Governance Excellence)

The proposed warrants are exercisable anytime within 5 years from the date of issuance. The exercise price will be announced at a later date.

The issuance of the warrants is subject to shareholders' approval at the upcoming Annual General Meeting, or AGM, in January (2025).

The exercise will strengthen the group's capital base, enabling it to raise additional funds without incurring additional interest expense, as compared to bank borrowings.

On the ESG front, Top Glove, in July 2024, successfully delivered its first shipment of sustainable natural rubber gloves to Europe fully traceable to their plantation origins, demonstrating the group's commitment to full compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR, attained ahead of the 30 December 2024 deadline.

The group received an 'A' in the MSCI ESG Ratings in the same month of 2024, which is an improvement over its 'BBB' rating in 2023 and the highest achievement since Top Glove's participation in 2019.

The MSCI ESG Rating measures a company's management of financially relevant ESG risk and opportunity, with assessment carried
out based on publicly available information.

Last month, the group also released the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report which evaluates the environmental impact of a product throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal.

The LCA which was carried out on Top Glove's conventional nitrile powder free gloves and biodegradable nitrile powder free gloves, revealed that carbon emissions for its biodegradable nitrile powder free gloves were 8.3% lower than that of its conventional nitrile gloves.

Top Glove also ranked 7th amongst the 20 winners of the National Corporate Governance & Sustainability Awards (NACGSA) in September 2024.