The easing of Covid-19 cases in recent months has made the government relax social restrictions. As a result, economic activities and community activities began to squirm again.
President Director of PT Martina Berto Tbk (MTBO) Bryan David Emil believes this momentum will be a positive catalyst to boost his company’s performance. Moreover, MBTO’s performance has also begun to show improvement as demand also shows improvement.
“The sales trend has started to improve in the third quarter of 2021. Our performance is much better when compared to the first half of last year,” said Bryan to Kontan.co.id, Thursday (11/11).
Meanwhile, MBTO’s net sales in the third quarter of 2021 amounted to Rp 56.15 billion, up 37.96% on a quarterly basis. This acquisition brought MBTO’s revenue from January to September to reach Rp 146.95 billion. However, when compared to the same period the previous year, this figure fell by 35.83% year on year.
With MBTO starting to improve in the third quarter of 2021, Bryan is optimistic that the targets set for this year can be achieved.
He projects that this year MBTO can book an operating profit of Rp 87 billion and profit before tax of Rp 71 billion. Meanwhile, the return on assets and return on equity ratios are expected to be 8.51% and 13.70%, respectively.
Knowing that the demand for makeup products is quite depressed as everyone is now using masks, MBTO also focuses its business on other business categories, namely skin care, hair care, and herbs through the brands Sariayu Martha Tilaar, Rudi Hadisuwarno, Biokos Martha Tilaar, and Berto Imunku.
In addition, in order to boost the pace of its business this year, MBTO has also issued a number of new products from their various business categories.
Starting from Biokos Vital Nutrition, Mirabella effortless makeup, RHC Pomade, Sariayu New Norm, PAC Satin Lip Cream, Sariayu Color Trend 2020, Quick N Fresh (hand sanitizer), and Berta Imunku.
Regarding Berto Imunku’s herbal products, Bryan said, this pandemic condition has made herbal products get a positive response from consumers. Moreover, it will also regularly launch new versions of these herbal products.
“For herbs, we target quite optimistically, herbs are our products that are quite effective and will only be released in 2021. We are targeting sales from the herbal category to be around Rp. 3 billion – Rp. 5 billion this year,” Bryan added.
Bryan added, MBTO also strives to continue to focus and increase the contribution of digital channels. This year, his party targets the contribution of digital channel sales to reach around 7 percent of the company’s total sales this year.
In order to boost sales of digital channels, Bryan admitted that MBTO is trying to improve its marketing strategy, one of which is by collaborating with key opinion leaders in order to attract more consumers in line with the growing trend of online shopping.
Another effort taken by a subsidiary of Marta Tilaar Group is through the development of distribution from sole distributors to multi-distributors.
Bryan said, to support the multi-distributor strategy, MBTO will create a Central Warehouse (DC) to regulate product suitability between needs and delivery so that it can be more efficient.
Recently, MBTO has also collaborated with PT Tigaraksa Satria Tbk (TGKA) to expand its distribution network. Through this collaboration, MBTO is projected to be able to increase modern trade business growth by 20-25% in line with 100% national coverage on TGKA’s modern trade channel.
As a result, MBTO’s products will be distributed more widely, evenly, and more easily by consumers throughout Indonesia.
Last August, MBTO also sold assets worth Rp 180 billion to PT Kosmetika Global Indonesia (Kosme) or known as the producer of MS Glow. The sale of these assets was carried out to improve the company’s cash flow, which had been hampered by the decline in sales.
“At that time there was indeed a sale of assets which we considered very unproductive and cash flow was indeed disrupted. However, with the trend of better sales and the sale of these assets, now MBTO’s cash flow is much better,” said Bryan.
In addition to improving cash flow, this year MBTO is also trying to improve profits. Understandably, as of September 30, MBTO still posted a net loss attributable to owners of the parent entity of Rp 66.5 billion.
This amount is much better considering the previous same period, MBTO’s losses reached Rp 82.36 billion on September 30, 2020.
Bryan said that one of the things he did to improve profits was to review channel profitability. Such as closing unprofitable outlets, especially in some department stores, in line with the ongoing pandemic conditions.
“Outlets that are not profitable, like it or not, we have to close. What’s more, during this pandemic, there are some that are closed, because if they stay open they will also lose. So we focus on those that are very profitable,” he concluded.