Sabina Public Company Limited (SET: SABINA) announced that it closed the deal acquiring shares of “Moda”, retail business in the Philippines, becoming major shareholder by holding shares of 77.3% of registered capital while preparing for oversea market expansion with confidence to grow in line with the Philippines’ economy and potential high purchasing power due to the numbers of population and per capita income.
“Moda” has prepared to increase numbers of retail stores to 44 stores in leading department stores across the country within this year, targeting the revenue to reach 200 million baht in 5 years. SABINA’s revenue and profit per shareholding proportion will be gradually recorded from quarter 2 this year which will strengthen its overall financial statements.
Miss Duangdao Mahanavanont, CEO of Sabina Public Company Limited or SABINA, the manufacturer and distributor of lingerie under the brand “SABINA”, has recently signed an agreement with Mrs. Cecilia Valdez-Saculo, an executive from Moda SBN Co., Ltd. (Moda SBN), a retail business operator and a distributor of “SABINA” brand in the Philippines, after Sabina International Company Limited, a subsidiary of SABINA has achieved “Moda” share acquisition agreement, securing shares of 77.33% of the registered capital. The signing ceremony was recently held in the Philippines.
Miss Duangdao Mahanavanont, CEO of SABINA disclosed the decision of “Moda” share acquisition as the first oversea expansion in the form of corporate acquisition instead of its usual agreement with distributors in certain countries. The Company sees the potential of the Philippines’ rising purchasing power due to its population of more than 112 million people while there are women up to 49.9% of the total population, consisting of 29% of women in Gen Z (age between 10-24 years old) and 24% of women in Millennium Gen (age between 25-39 years old) which are SABINA’s target customers. In addition, the Filipino consumers love and trust Thai branded products.
“SABINA products are the Filipino customers’ favorites. Earlier, our marketing activities had been interestingly implemented by “Moda”, our distributor, until we reached to the point of actual oversea expansion. Thus, we did serious marketing research on the Philippines and found that its retail market growth was rising due to the 2022 economic expansion of 7.6%, the highest level since 2019. In 2023, the economic expansion continues to grow, and the per capita income is high. The consumers here are happy to spend. “Moda” also has experiences and skills in the Philippines’ retail market and operates the business with service heart, a very important factor to business operation. We are confident with our investment in the Philippines”, said Miss Duangdao.
Moda’s sales volume is currently at around 50-60 million baht, of which will be recorded as revenue and profit per shareholding proportion to SABINA from quarter 2 of 2023. In 2020, Moda’s growth through its retail store expansion in leading department stores increased from 31 stores to 34 stores in 2021 and 38 stores in 2022, with the number of target stores to achieve 44 stores in 2023 and sales revenue to achieve 200 million baht in 5 years.
The marketing strategy of “SABINA” in the Philippines, apart from Moda’s existing plan’s store expansion, which proves as effective marketing penetration through leading department stores, there will be SABINA’s strategy to penetrate modern trade department stores, including pop-up stores or setting up temporary stores in locations of customer density. SABINA will also expand to online market where there is no physical shop, and it is a potential market in the Philippines. It is the market in which SABINA is expertise in and has experiences. It is believed that in this year Moda can achieve as much as 20-30% growth from the previous year.
“Apart from oversea market expansion, SABINA also has a plan for the local market, the main market which has strong growth, particularly after the unexpected rise of tourists. We are trying to focus more on the tourist group. We have renovated SABINA shop and product placement to attract more tourists. The recent sales volume of the first quarter of this year shows a sign of better-than-expected improvement. In quarter 2 of this year, Moda’s revenue and profit will be recorded and it will help strengthen SABINA’s financial statement”, said CEO of SABINA.
