RFM income up 8.6% to P628 M

Concepcion-led food and beverage firm RFM Corp. grew its nine-month profit 8.6 percent, driven by the double-digit growth in its pasta and ice cream businesses.

In a statement, RFM said its net earnings increased to P628 million on the back of a 7.3 percent rise in sales revenues.

RFM president and CEO Jose A. Concepcion III said sales continued to come in strong especially for Fiesta and the new Royal pasta which have been hitting high double-digit growth rates.

He said sales of the pasta business started strong this year as the company improved the line-up of distributors and solved placement issues with some accounts.

Selecta ice cream likewise hit double-digit growth rates as it expanded the market category and increased consumption frequency with new product innovations and value propositions. Better store coverage, with more partner-stores, seamless distribution and better channel presence continued to bring-up sales volume, RFM said.

Other businesses like milk and juice also exhibited improvements in performance after fine-tuning their business models.

“Operationally, we were also able to improve our logistics systems, rationalize our warehousing and distribution flow, resulting to improved placements and trade servicing,” Concepcion said.

RFM also recently disclosed that with its stronger income and cashflows, it has paid up all its long-term debts to strengthen further its balance sheet.

“This brought down long term debt to zero, making RFM parent company long term loan debt-free, while its short term debts have also been paid last October, even during this peak period of production build-up,” Concepcion said.

The company expects to sustain its upward trajectory for the remainder for the year as the election period heats up, driving higher consumption patterns like before.