RFM Corporation reported that preliminary data showed that its net income grew to P1.28 billion last year from P1.22 billion in 2019 as revenues increased to P15.7 billion from P15 billion as sales grew because of the pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm reported strong growth in its milk and pasta businesses last year when consumer behavior and preferences changed due to the pandemic and the quarantine measures imposed.

RFM said “preliminary data indicated that RFM’s consumer brands Selecta Fortified Milk saw sustained growth in 2020, expanding at 56 percent while pasta brands Fiesta and Royal grew 16 percent and 44 percent, respectively, from year ago levels.

It added that hotcakes and other bowl mixes also enjoyed a 36 percent increase as consumers purchased and cooked more in their homes during the lockdown.

“While the 2020 audited financials are still not available, anecdotal evidence points to a better performance in 2020 compared to 2019 in revenues and income,” said RFM Chief Executive Officer Jose Concepcion III.

He noted that, “On the one hand, we saw our milk and pasta as well as the mixes and flour business units take advantage of the pantry loading behavior of the lockdown period.”

“On the other hand, ice cream and bread bun revenues were naturally impacted by the pandemic-induced closures of fastfood chains and stores,” Concepcion added. 

He said that, for 2021, RFM continues to watch trends in consumer sentiment and income as well as the ability of the coming vaccines to restore normalcy in the economy and daily lives of the people.

In the meantime, RFM will continue to tighten control over expenses and capex while things remain uncertain.  “We have a strong balance sheet in RFM which supports the continuation of our dividend policy and share buyback programs. While RFM continues to look out for any M&A opportunities to boost shareholder value, the organic growth in milk, ice cream, pasta and mixes will be our growth drivers for 2021,” Concepcion said.