shares of kossan rubber industries bhd fell thursday after the glove makers quarterly net profit sank 96 amid declining demand for protective wear the malaysiabased companys shares dropped as much as 92 in early trading to 109 ringgit taking yeartodate losses to about 43 other glove makers also fell with investors selling on both kossans results and profittaking motives said kevin khaw khai sheng an analyst at ifast capital top glove corp bhd was recently 74 lower hartalega holdings bhd was down 78 and supermax corp bhd lost 58 kossan a maker of rubber gloves whose fortunes soared early during the covid19 pandemic on wednesday reported a 96 plunge in thirdquarter net profit to myr233 million 49 million on lower selling prices a drop in sales volume and higher costs for energy and labor its revenue fell 57 from a year earlier the company also flagged trouble ahead amid substantial oversupply in the industry as global consumers move on from the pandemic saying it expects to encounter strong headwinds for the rest of the year and into 2023 midf research downgraded kossan to sell from neutral and cut the target price to myr090 from myr128 highlighting high costs of production and the supply surplus in the market in a note thursday it cited concerns that the pricing and margin compression will likely continue for the remaining of 2022 and 2023 maybank investment bank analyst wong wei sum cut the stocks target price to myr103 from myr110 while keeping a sell rating saying she expects weaker earnings in the final quarter of the year the analyst cut her 2022 to 2024 earnings forecasts by 742 to factor in lower assumptions for average selling prices and the factory utilization rate hong leong investment bank analyst sophie chua siu li cut her target price to myr112 from myr144 but maintained a hold rating saying kossans strong net cash position will help the company better weather this difficult time