SPLASH Corp. said on Friday its board of directors approved a buyback program of P100 million riding on a good first-quarter financial performance.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said its board also approved a cash dividend of P0.10 per share, or an estimated total of about P63 million.
“The cash dividend and share buyback will be funded by cash flow from operations, which has improved significantly over the last 15 months or the whole of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 [and the] remaining proceeds from the sale of a noncore asset,” the company said.
The buyback program, a move meant to strengthen the company’s stock price, and dividend declaration were made after the Hortaleza family-led firm’s net income grew 46 percent in the first quarter of the year. The company said it already exceeded its profit for the entire 2014 by more than four times.
The company disclosure added that Splash’s net income grew to P49 million for the period, from some P38 million last year.
For the entire 2014, however, Splash only booked an income of P12 million as expenses soared. Splash’s total sales of its personal-care segment for the first quarter of the year grew by 18 percent, with Philippine operations contributing a 21-percent growth, international operations 4 percent and direct sales 5 percent.
“The growth in sales of personal care products more than made up for the decline by 10 percent of the sales of the foods segment,” the company said.
Marketing, selling and distribution costs declined by 7 percent mostly as a result of the steps taken in 2013 to strengthen Splash’s relationship with key accounts to ensure more mutually beneficial terms of engagement.
“These revised terms resulted in more efficient inventory management and promo fund spending for both parties. This expense declined despite a sharp increase in advertising spent for Splash’s flagship brands SkinWhite and MaxiPeel, which helped to drive huge increases in sales and further strengthened their market dominance,” it said.
VG Cabuag