Food and beverage firm RFM Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has approved a cash dividend of P300 million or P0.089033 per share payable on September 13, 2024 with record date as of August 16, 2024.
The firm noted that, for the current year 2024, it has declared a total of P800 million in dividends, or P0.237421 per share, comparable to the P850 million declared in 2023. At the share price of P3.80 as of July 31, 2024, RFM's dividend yield is 6.25 percent.
RFM Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jose Ma. A. Concepcion III said "2024 looks to be a good year in terms of income growth as we are able to enjoy softer costs of raw materials."
The listed food and beverage company's preliminary unaudited 2024 sales for the first half of 2024 grew 4 percent to P9.55 billion.
Sales of pasta, pasta sauce, and ice cream products experienced good growth, while sales of flour declined in peso terms due to lower market prices of flour following the decreased price of wheat.
Income for the first six months of 2024 saw a strong 17 percent rise to P650 million on the continuing tailwinds of lower input costs and operating leverage.
Concepcion said RFM continues to keep adequate liquidity in the balance sheet even as it supports healthy levels of dividends every year.
The company's P1.1-billion bakery plant in Silang, Cavite is now operational; it was funded by internally generated cash and is RFM Corp.'s second bakery plant.
"RFM is also launching new products this year like the Selecta Flavored Milk and other milk innovations to maintain the growth momentum in RFM's milk segment.
“Our pasta business is also rolling out more innovations and we see that our Unilever RFM Ice Cream joint venture is able to sustain growth in 2024 with timely price adjustments to ensure affordability and healthy demand," said Concepcion.