Sritex managed to book a slight increase in net profit to US$28.2 million in the first three months of the year, from $28 million in the same period last year. Its revenue stagnated at $316.6 million from January to March, a very small dive from $316.8 million in last year’s first quarter.

“We tried to shift our products toward something that corresponds with the pandemic. We managed to produce masks fairly quickly,” Sritex president director Iwan Setiawan Lukminto said during a livestreamed public expose on Tuesday.

The company began producing protective suits and masks in January. By the end of April, the company had produced over 45 million masks.

It has been forced to postpone several export shipments due to pandemic-induced disruptions, though it has been compensated by an increase in local sales. 

In the first quarter, the company’s total export was down by $2 million to $189.1 million compared to the same period last year. However, the decrease was almost made up by a $1.8 million year-on-year (yoy) increase in local sales to $127.5 million in this year’s first quarter.

The total cost, however, increased 2 percent yoy to $257.6 million in this year’s first quarter. The company attributed this to additional costs incurred in implementing health protocols to contain the virus in its factories, which includes distributing masks to employees and sanitizing the facilities. 

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