MANILA, Philippines – Personal care products manufacturer Splash Corp. has been officially delisted from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) as of yesterday.
In a notice, the PSE said it has approved the petition for voluntary delisting of Splash and accordingly ordered the delisting of the company’s shares from the official registry of the exchange effective Oct. 7, 2016.
“The trading of the company’s shares (ticker symbol “SPH) is currently under suspension due to the company’s failure to comply with the 10 percent minimum public float ownership requirement,” PSE president Hans Sicat said.
The company made a tender offer to shareholders for all 158 million publicly owned common shares from July 18 to Sept. 20 at a price of P3.10 per share.
Splash applied for delisting because of the low trading volume of its shares over the last 24 months, the response of the investing public to the ongoing share buy-back program, and the company’s desire to avoid telegraphing its business plans to its competitors.
As of July 5, 2016, the company’s public ownership stood at 26.66 percent.
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“After the termination of the tender offer to be conducted in connection with this petition, the company’s public ownership is expected to fall below the prescribed 10 percent minimum public ownership,” Splash said.
The planned delisting comes on the heels of the company’s strong first quarter growth.
Splash reported a net income of P160 million during the period, a 13-fold increase from P12 million in 2014, buoyed by strong sales.
Sales rose eight percent to P3.78 billion last year as cost of goods sold percentage to sales improved at 42 percent from 45 percent last year while maintaining the same level of operating expenses at 54 percent of sales.
The personal care business saw the most increase in sales for both the local operations (12 percent) and international operations (13 percent).
The food business also registered a three percent sales growth.
In terms of products, sales of flagship products SkinWhite and MaxiPeel continued to grow at satisfying rates despite tougher competition.
SkinWhite Glutathione, a new whitening variant, doubled its sales on the back of a creative advertising campaign.
The growth of the personal care business in international operations was mostly through its focus on naturals, capitalizing on the growing trend of consumers toward organic and natural-based products.
The company continues to build its distribution base, focusing on markets where the retail landscape is still developing, like Nigeria in Africa and Indonesia in Asean, Splash said.
Its food business under Barrio Fiesta Manufacturing Corp. also performed well, posting a net income of P10 million in 2015.
Splash provides products and services that cater to the universal desire of people to look good and live well. From a leadership position in the Philippines, the company ventured into high-growth markets in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and North America.
