Listing ceremony: (From left) InNature Bhd directors Daryl Foong and Datuk Maznah Abdul Jalil, chairperson Datuk Simon Foong, Cheah-Foong, director Tengku Datin Paduka Setia Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and CEO Molly Fong at the company’s listing ceremony.
KUALA LUMPUR: Newly-listed InNature Bhd is confident of riding out Covid-19 impact that has affected consumer sentiment and the local retail sector.
Managing director Datin Mina Cheah-Foong said the company, which has been in operations for over three decades, still recorded positive growth in the past during the height of the Nipah virus and SARS.
“In 36 years we’ve been through a lot. We always achieved growth and maintained our profitability as well, so we’re very confident that whatever comes, we will be able to ride it out, ” she said at a press conference after the company’s listing ceremony yesterday.
Cheah-Foong emphasised that it would “take a lot” for people to stop shampooing their hair and using deodorant.
“It’s going to take a lot before that changes us. It’s true that shopping mall traffic has dropped, but think about your own behaviour.
“What have you stopped buying, what have you stopped doing? I don’t think you would have stopped buying your toiletries.
“So we will weather this just like how we have weathered the challenges in the past. Of course, there are certain things beyond our control. If the world is in turmoil, global trade is affected and consumer sentiments are impacted.”
Despite the subdued business environment currently, especially in light of the Covid-19 epidermic, Cheah-Foong said people still have money to spend.
“People have money but they’re selective about where to spend it. So those kind of things, we can’t do anything about but it doesn’t just affect us, it affects everybody. So in terms of preparations, we do the best we can. We have the experience behind us and we’re confident we can go ahead.”
InNature, which retails and distributes The Body Shop brand of cosmetics and personal care products, debuted on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia yesterday and opened at 72 sen; eight sen above it’s listing price of 64 sen.
It hit an intra-day high of 74 sen before closing at 66 sen. It was the most actively traded stock of the day with 140.92 million shares done.
Earlier this month, InNature announced that it was lowering its listing price by four sen.
Chairperson Datuk Simon Foong said the company decided to lower the price given the challenging market situation currently.
“We had a range pre-bookbuilding that was supposed to be between 62 sen and 68 sen. But given the current market situation, the company decided to take a view that it wanted a mid-point price.”
InNature has 89 points-of-sale in the Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Labuan, 34 points-of-sale in Vietnam and one point-of-sale in Cambodia.
In collaboration with Natura Cosmeticos SA, the company also recently introduced the Natura beauty brand into Malaysia to expand its brand portfolio and strengthen its leadership and market share of the naturals sector of the CPC industry.
The Natura e-commerce website was launched in August 2019, followed by the opening of a pop-up store in Sunway Pyramid in October 2019, and the social selling operations of the business has also recently commenced.
The company plans to use the proceeds from the initial public offering to expand the Natura business and to support more store openings of The Body Shop, particularly in Vietnam and Cambodia.
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/02/21/innature-confident-of-riding-out-covid-19-scare
