RFM Corp. announced on Friday that its earnings for the first nine-months of the year surged because of better operations and lower costs.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Concepcion-led food and beverage firm said that from January to September, its net income grew 78 percent to P282 million from the same period last year despite the economic slowdown.

The company said the nine-month income has already surpassed the full-year profit of P245 million for 2008.

During the period, RFM’s net sales increased by 7 percent to P5.78 billion for the first nine months of the year from the P5.4 billion for the same period last year.

Joey Concepcion, RFM president and chief executive, said the improvement in the company’s financial performance were supported by better operations and lower costs, particularly with the transfer of its
pasta, beverage and meat products manufacturing to more modern production facilities.

He added that the softened prices of major raw materials this year as compared to their high levels last year have also contributed to the growth.

Concepcion said RFM’s sales would continue to grow well ahead of market growth with the company “lead[ing] the way in offering better value-for-money food and beverage alternatives to the consumer, which works well especially during more difficult times like now.”

“Our White King Fiesta spaghetti continues to be the market leader nationwide based on recent retail audits, because of its strong value proposition to Filipino consumers,” Concepcion said.

He said the Fiesta brand is now the company’s newest market leader in the RFM group, after Selecta, which has remained the number one ice cream brand in the country with a 55-percent market share.

“Our Swift processed meat and Selecta milk products have also registered high double-digit sales growth in 2009, with stronger consumer pull, new product introductions and deeper distribution penetration,” Concepcion added.

The executive said he is optimistic in the growth performance of RFM’s new health beverage line, led by Vitwater, or water with vitamins and benefits; Alo Youth, a local brand in the aloe vera-filled drink category; and the Sunkist Healthy Heart orange juice, with plant sterols that reduce cholesterol levels in the body.