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Food and beverage firm RFM Corporation is hoping to grow revenues and income by mid to high single digit numbers this year--supported by the growth in its ice cream, milk, pasta, flour, breads and mixes segments.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, RFM Chief Executive Officer Jose Ma. Concepcion III said first quarter 2025 unaudited preliminary numbers show RFM sustained 2024’s growth momentum as sales grew by three percent to P₱4.5 billion and net income jumped 53 percent to P₱309 million.
The firm posted a 12 percent increase in net income to ₱1.4 billion last year from ₱1.27 billion in 2023 as audited financials of 2024 showed a five percent growth in topline to ₱21.7 billion.
He cited the big role of RFM’s pasta, milk and flour segments as well as its joint venture with Unilever in the leading ice cream company in the country – Unilever RFM Ice Cream, Inc. – in RFM’s net income performance.
The ice cream joint venture manufactures and sells the best-selling Selecta Ice Cream as well as Cornetto and Magnum brands.
On the recent news of the Unilever decision to separate its global ice cream business from Unilever’s other businesses like beauty, homecare and food products, Concepcion explained that “in March 2024, Unilever announced its intention to separate its Ice Cream division to create a world-leading business that better facilitates the future growth potential of Ice Cream.
“Ice Cream has distinct business characteristics compared with the rest of Unilever’s business portfolio; these include a supply chain and point of sale that support frozen goods, a different channel landscape, more seasonality, and greater capital intensity.”
As a standalone, more focused business, Concepcion said Ice Cream’s management team will have operational and financial flexibility to grow its business, allocate capital and resources in support of the company’s distinct strategy.
“The Ice Cream Separation activity is already underway aiming to complete by the end of 2025. At this point in time, there is no immediate impact to the business, and there are no changes to the usual ways of working, especially in the Philippines where the Ice Cream business has already been operating as a separate entity, under Unilever-RFM Ice Cream, Inc.,” he noted.
Concepcion added that he is very confident of the plan of Unilever to carve out its global ice cream business and looks forward to continuing the excellent relationship and performance of the local joint venture for many years to come.
Meanwhile RFM’s Board approved another ₱200 million cash dividend or ₱0.05936 per share payable on May 26, 2025, with record date as of April 29, 2025. This ₱200 million dividend is the second payment in 2025 that brings total cash dividend for 2025 at ₱400 million.
RFM declared a total of ₱1.3 billion in cash dividends in 2024, up from ₱850M in 2023. At the share price of ₱3.87 at end 2024, RFM’s 2024 dividend yield was 10 percent.
