"Both demand and the selling prices of eggs have been stable as of late. Thus, the company will continue to focus on cost management, as well as the efficient employment of resources for sustainable profitability," Ahmad Khairuddin said in the company’s 2011 annual report.

According to LTKM’s group accountant Jancy Oh, LTKM currently produces an average of 1.4 million eggs per day.

"Our sales per day on average is between 1.3 million and 1.4 million eggs as we don’t hold on to any old stock," Ms Oh told The Edge Financial Daily.

Analysts are expecting Malaysia’s egg consumption to remain quite high with some 300 eggs consumed per capita on an annual basis. Analysts also note that in times of economic turmoil, investors normally seek out defensive sectors such as those related to food.

For the first quarter of FY12 ending 31 March 2012, LTKM saw a slight drop in its net profit year-on-year to RM2.3 million from RM2.4 million. This was despite revenue for the same period increasing by 16.2 per cent to RM39.5 million from RM34 million.

According to the notes accompanying the announcement, it was higher raw material costs, more specifically corn, and other operating expenses that put a damper on margins and impacted profits.

Although no dividend was announced for the quarter, for the previous financial year the company had paid out a total of RM5.62 million to shareholders.

In addition to its poultry and egg segment, LTKM also deals in the manufacturing and sale of processed glass for architectural use, among others.

In its 2011 annual report Ahmad had said that the penetration attempt had been challenging given the current market conditions. Ms Oh echoed this sentiment, explaining that the segment was still very new and in its start-up phase.