Publicly listed cosmetics maker PT Martina Berto is hoping its recent acquisition of the Rudy Hadisuwarno haircare brand will help increase the company'€™s total sales by 10 percent this year.

The company, part of Martha Tilaar Group, will intensify marketing efforts for the Rudy Hadisuwarno products following the brand'€™s acquisition.

Martina Berto corporate secretary Desril Muchtar said on Sunday that previously the company had been halfhearted in marketing its products as the brand was owned by a third party.

'€œNow, with this acquisition, our costs turn into investment,'€ he said over the phone, adding that his firm could now invest in the brand '€œwholeheartedly'€.

Prior to the acquisition, Martina Berto had the license to sell the Rudy Hadisuwarno haircare products. The cosmetics company must pay 5 percent of the gross sales value of the products in royalties to hairstylist Rudi Hadisuwarno, who owns the brand.

The company must also bear the marketing costs.

Martina Berto'€™s financial report showed it reaped Rp 483.34 billion (US$35.33 million) in net sales during the first nine months of 2015, up 10.24 percent year-on-year (yoy) compared to the same period in 2014.

Its marketing and sales costs reached Rp 155.72 billion as of September last year.

Desril said the net sales were 70 percent of Martina Berto'€™s gross sales value, leading the royalty payment to be a relatively significant amount for the firm.

'€œNow, we don'€™t need to pay the royalty anymore ['€¦] and can develop the brand as our own asset,'€ he said.

According to the company'€™s report submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), the acquisition, which took place on Jan. 25, was worth Rp 58 billion, of which Rp 21 billion was sourced from the firm'€™s initial public offering (IPO) proceeds, while the remainder came from bank loans.

Desril added that the acquisition was only for haircare products such as shampoo, hair serum and tonic, allowing Rudy Hadisuwarno to keep using the brand for his schools and salons.

Previously, Martina Berto president director Bryan David Emil said his company would acquire intangible assets, such as brands, by as soon as the first quarter of this year to expand its market share.

The firm announced the plan last year but prolonged negotiations and internal discussions with current brand owners caused delays in the acquisition, he said.

The 10 percent sales growth target of Martina Berto, which owns the well-known Sariayu cosmetic brand, comes on the back of the company struggling for growth last year amid weak consumer purchasing power.

Bryan revealed that his company'€™s unaudited full-year report showed a 3.4 percent increase in sales in 2015 but a net profit decrease of around 10 percent due to currency losses and large-scale investment carried out by the company in its marketing and sales division.

This year the company plans to allocate Rp 53.2 billion in capital expenditure (capex) to boost sales.

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