Firm aims to make a splash in the stock market
By Karen Lema
Reuters
Last updated 06:24pm (Mla time) 09/13/2007
MANILA, Philippines — A Philippine company that took off selling hair spray in the 1980s and is named after that decade’s romantic comedy “Splash” aims to take its fortunes a step further by listing on the stock market next year.
Splash Corporation, the country’s largest Filipino-owned personal care and cosmetics company, began as a P12,000-backyard business over two decades ago before growing into a multi-billion peso firm competing with the likes of Unilever and Procter & Gamble Co.
Rolando Hortaleza, chairman and chief executive officer of Splash, started the business in 1985, selling nail polish remover, cuticle remover and solvents in recycled cough syrup bottles in a lower-middle class neighborhood in Manila.
Now, his company is set to become the first Filipino personal care firm to list on the stock exchange, and is targeting its market debut for January 2008.
Read more here.
Those of you who believe passion is important in setting up a business, read Hortaleza’s advice:
Asked what advice he could give to the many Filipino entrepreneurs aspiring to hit the jackpot, Hortaleza said: “It can be done, as long as you have passion.”
September 16th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
[...] Open for Business : From a P12,000-backyard business to an IPO [...]
September 16th, 2007 at 8:00 am
I feel so proud of my country and heritage
everytime I see a Filipino success story like this one. I want to see more of this happening in the near future and show to the world that in this day and age of globalization, we Filipinos can compete and make good products out there. Bench, San Miguel beer, Figaro, to name only a few are making waves in the international business scene and I hope that someday I want to see Jollibee mushrooming all over the United States.
I also hope that someday, we will be making and exporting heavy machineries, farm equipments, new information technology, ships and even cars that say proudly this is “Made in the Philippines”. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay tayong lahat!
September 15th, 2007 at 8:45 am
[...] Open for Business : From a P12,000-backyard business to an IPO [...]
September 14th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
[...] Open for Business : From a P12,000-backyard business to an IPO [...]