RFM expects to perform better this year

RFM Corp., the food and beverage concern of the Concepcion family, expects to perform better this year with the recent strengthening of the peso and improving business climate.

RFM president and chief executive officer Joey Concepcion said the company is expected to sustain its operating income on account of margin improvement initiatives and more prudent spending.

Concepcion said the company’s financial statements are still being prepared but the results, he said, are positive. the nine months ending September 2005, RFM posted a net income profit of P68 million or an increase of 45 percent from the previous level’s P47 million.

Consolidated revenues went up nine percent to P4.5 billion from P4.1 billion a year earlier, mainly driven by the increase in sales of flour, ice cream, juices and its property development projects.

Operating income likewise grew 65 percent to P246 million.

Cost of sales amounted to P3.42 billion, 10.8 percent higher than the previous year’s P3.09 billion. Other charges increased by 75.29 percent to P149 million from only P85 million, mainly as a result of the writing down of cold storage asset.

For this year, RFM has lined up a several products catering to the mass market.

Brands under the RFM umbrella include Sunkist Juice, Selecta Milk, Swift processed meat, White King Flour, and Fiesta Spaghetti.

RFM pioneered flour milling in 1957 and since then has grown into a highly diversified food and beverage company with products such as: flour, feeds, poultry, processed and canned meat, fruit juices, snack foods.

It is a company involved in a variety of activities including flour milling, food processing, animal husbandry, animal feedmeal production, and the marketing and distribution of grocery products. RFM also produces ice cream under the Selecta brand.