HBC sees income rising to P1.5 billion by end of 2009

MANILA, Philippines - Leading personal care retailer HBC expects to earn up to P1.5 billion by the end of the year as consumer appetite for health and beauty products went up despite of the global recession.

“The reason for our double digit growth is the shift to value for money products,” one of the company’s founders Rosalinda Ang-Hortaleza said in an interview yesterday.

Hortaleza said that consumers are now more discerning when buying products because of the financial crisis. She explained that buyers shifted from more expensive brands to more value for money products.

The firm registered a 16 percent rise in sales for first to third quarter of 2009 and projects to triple this growth by the end of the year. For the first half of this year, the company reported total sales of P691.77 million. The company also expects a 32-percent growth in net income.

“Our company has seen a wide-scale increase which can be attributed to our strategic marketing decisions to grow the company,” Hortaleza said. “We are glad to note that the market has responded positively to our expansion campaign as evidenced by these numbers.”

Hortaleza said that they will open 40 new branches next year, 70 percent of which will be in Luzon and the remaining 30 percent will be divided between Visayas and Mindanao. HBC is now about to reach a total of 219 branches in the Philippines, with 207 company-owned stores and 11 franchised outlets.

HBC has outlets outside the Philippines specifically in Singapore, Bahrain, Oman, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and 17 stores in Seafood City Outlets in California.

Conservatively, Hortaleza said that HBC will expand its network to 500 stores by 2012. The stores will be a mix of Company-owned, franchised, and “store-within-a-store” outlets.

Also, the company plans to introduce 500 new SKU’s for next year to add to their list of exclusive products such as SanSan Cosmetics, Allue, Hortaleza M.D., and Hortaleza Professionals. Currently, they carry 3,500 products.

“Our market has largely contributed to the success of the company, and we plan to develop more ways to reach out and touch base with our consumers — through store expansion, product and retail innovation, as well as reinforcing our presence in other retail channels,” Hortaleza said.