Martha Tilaar sets sights on global market

After decades of wooing Indonesian women, local cosmetics producer Martha Tilaar Group announced plans to take on another challenge by expanding to other countries.

The biggest player in the local beauty industry, Martha Tilaar recently opened a store at the Marina Square mall in Singapore last weekend in an unprecedented step for an Indonesian cosmetic brand.

The group has established a reputation in a few countries such as Malaysia and Brunei, but this marks the first time Martha Tilaar has opened a store outside Indonesia.

“Singapore is a well-managed country and it is also a hub for business and commerce,” group chairwoman and founder Martha Tilaar said at the store’s opening ceremony.

The opening was deemed a success with many locals visiting and buying Martha Tilaar products at the store, which is located next to an outlet run by top global cosmetics firm The Body Shop.

Martha Tilaar international business director Kunto W. Widarto said the company initially hesitated on plans to expand given tough competition from existing global brands.

Kunto outlined the company’s aggressive plan to expand the business in the Asia-Pacific region within the next two years.

Martha Tilaar, he said, will open another store in Singapore by year-end. It will also branch out into Malaysia and Taiwan next year and to Hong Kong and Tokyo in 2012.

“We will expand our ASEAN market this year to Cambodia and Vietnam,” Kunto said, adding that the firm only currently exported to Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. Kunto hinted at expansion plans to operate in China, which is known as a challenging market due to licensing and copyright issues.

With the company’s global expansion plans on the horizon, Kunto said he expected the firm’s international business unit to improve contribution to revenue to 20 percent from the existing 5 percent.

The company posted an estimated annual turnover of around US$75 million for the last three years.

Apart from ambitious international expansion targets, the company is also planning its first public offering in December.

“The timing could not be more perfect. This Singapore store opening was also undertaken for publicity purposes,” Kunto said.

He added that the company aimed to generate Rp 350 billion (US$39.2 million) from selling a 33 percent stake to the public.

Part of the money will be used to invest in market expansion.

Kunto said the company had appointed Trimegah Securities as the underwriter for the public offering.

Established 40 years ago, the Martha Tilaar Group has a 20 percent share of the local cosmetics
industry.