RFM Corp declares P2B in cash dividends

RFM Corp. disclosed yesterday that its board of directors approved the declaration of cash dividends to all its shareholders in the total amount of P2 billion. With currently estimated fully-diluted shares of 1.561 billion, expected dividend per share is approximately P1.28.

The cash dividends will be given to all holders of RFM common stocks, as of record date of Feb. 11, 2002. Ex-date will be Feb. 6, 2002, while dividend payment is scheduled on Feb. 20, 2002.

The dividend declaration was made after the recent completion of the sale of RFM’s shareholdings in Cosmos Bottling Corp. to the Coca-Cola and San Miguel Corp. groups last Jan. 3, 2002.

RFM president and CEO Jose Concepcion III said that "we sought the approval of the cash dividend declaration as we are happy to share with all our shareholders part of the gains brought about by the recent Cosmos sale transaction." The recent transaction valued Cosmos at P14 billion plus potential cash dividends close to P1 billion, of which RFM’s shareholdings accounted for 83.2 percent.

RFM’s book value, based on latest unaudited financial statement (September 2001), is around P7.8 billion. With the recent buy-back of its minority shareholders WP Argosy, book value is adjusted to around P6.77 billion, or about P4.34 per share.

Concepcion said that "RFM will continue to be in a positive net cash position even after the cash dividends. Cash reserves will be kept at around P3 billion to be in a position to take advantage of future growth opportunities. RFM will continue to focus on its current lines of branded food and beverage products such as Sunkist juice drinks, Selecta Moo milk drinks, Selecta ice cream, White King cake mixes, Fiesta pasta, and Swift chicken and meat products. RFM will grow organically these businesses and strengthen their market hold in their respective product categories." After the Cosmos sale, RFM group sales revenue size is around P11 billion.

Concepcion added that "along the way, if there are good opportunities for merger or acquisition, we shall always be to explore them. But there is no rush. We shall be prudent in our capital investments and expenditures. At the moment, the priorities are to continue strengthening our brands, revitalizing our sales and distribution network, trimming our costs, and working on further efficiency and systems improvements in operations."