Reporter

SPLASH Corp., the only listed personal-care firm at the local bourse, has inked another agreement, this time, for the distribution of its products in the United States.

In a statement over the weekend, the company said it has appointed Mandalay Trading Corp. as distributor of its personal-care product line. The agreement followed the deal Splash made last week with Rejoice Moments Sdn Bhd. for the exclusive distribution of its products in Malaysia.   

“This agreement with Mandalay Trading will definitely help serve the needs not only of our fellowmen but will also enable us to reach out to the much broader Oriental, Hispanic and other target segments thereby creating a new generation of loyal, US-based Splash consumers,” said president and chief operating officer Jessin Soriano.

Mandalay Trading was initially into selling food and beverage products but has since expanded its portfolio to include personal-care items. It has a wide network of wholesalers and retailers across the US and has about 50 company-hired staff doing direct selling and telemarketing and outsources hauling and delivery activities to complement its own delivery fleet.

Ed Patron, chief operating officer of Splash’s international operations group, said they will initially capitalize on the strong equities of brands like SkinWhite and Extract for the US market.

“We will also continue to make TheraHerb VCO available as we strive to stake a claim on the huge and competitive health and wellness industry,” he said.

The US health and wellness market amounts to about $44 billion, a third of the estimated $128-billion global demand.

Established in 1985, Splash has grown from a P12,000 backyard business into a P4-billion enterprise that has established market presence in more than 20 countries in Asia, Middle East and North America.

It listed at the stock exchange on November 15 but debuted flat due to overall decline in the global markets.

Splash sold 188.84 million new shares via the IPO, raising gross proceeds amounting to P1.69 billion. The selling shareholders, on the other hand, disposed of 35 million shares worth P314.3 million.

After the public offering, the company’s market capitalization was valued at P7 billion. 

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PENSION fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) reported a 20 percent growth in net operating revenues from January to September this year to P35 billion from P29.2 billion a year earlier as a result of higher returns from local investments.

SPLASH Corp., the only listed personal-care firm at the local bourse, has inked another agreement, this time, for the distribution of its products in the United States.

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