RFM on track to hit P1-B profit target

MANILA, Philippines - RFM Corp., the Concepcion-led food and beverage company, is confident in hitting its P1 billion earnings target this year despite the prevailing global turmoil triggered by a slowdown in China’s economy.

In an interview, RFM vice president and head of corporate planning Ramon Lopez said the company continues to come up with new product innovations for its ice cream brand as it hitches a ride on the celebration-filled “ber” months.

“In the fourth quarter, there are a lot of celebrations,” Lopez said, adding that half of the company’s net income usually comes from the ber months, which are only four, September, October, November and December.

For its ice-cream products, Lopez said the company has introduced local flavor such as ube and quezo.

The El Nino year is also good for the ice-cream business, RFM president and CEO Jose Concepcion III said.

In the first six months of the year, the company reported a net income of P472 million, 11 percent higher than year-ago numbers.

For the pasta brand, sales grew by 39 percent while the ice cream brand grew 10 percent.

Sales continued to come in strong especially for Fiesta and the new Royal pasta as well as the company’s Selecta ice cream as new product innovations and value proposition broadened the market reach of these products.

Concepcion, meanwhile acquired 200,000 RFM shares last Monday at P4.02 per share, according to a disclosure.

On that day, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) closed at 6,791.01, down by 487.97 points or 6.7 percent, wiping out early 2015 gains and marking the sharpest fall in two years.

Similarly, the broader All-Shares index shed 276.24 points or 6.65 percent to 3,881.70.

Incorporated in 1957 as Republic Flour Mills Inc. to manufacture flour in the country, RFM has diversified into poultry and livestock production and areas of food manufacturing that includes flour-based products, margarine, milk and juices, canned and processed meat, ice cream, and bottled mineral water.

Today, the company is a branded food and beverage company in the Philippines known for nurturing and growing heritage local brands like Pop Cola and Sarsi, under its previous subsidiary Cosmos Bottling Corp., and Selecta ice cream, now under the joint venture with Unilever. The Company is also known for its major brands like White King Fiesta, Selecta Milk, Sunkist, and Swift, which are major brand players in the industry.