Beauty products maker Splash Corp. said its first-half net income fell 14.9 percent to P122.4 million from P143.76 million in the year-earlier period on higher expenses.

In its financial filing, the company said operating expenses rose 44.74 percent to P713.7 million while cost of sales went up 8.70 percent to P597.5 million. Interest expense also grew by 21.6 percent.

However, it said product sales remained strong.

Splash posted a 19-percent growth in net sales to P1.4 billion, helped by new product introductions, which accounted for P198 million or 14 percent of total sales.

Splash, a Filipino-owned personal care manufacturing and marketing company, was leading in the skin care category, with a 35 percent market share. It also competes in the haircare and health and wellness segments.

Some of its popular brands are Extraderm, Maxi-peel, Biolink and SkinWhite.

The company earlier said it was divesting from non-core operations through the sale of its P200-million stake in Medical City Medical Center in Pasig this year.