RFM to wipe out long-term debt

Concepcion-led food and beverage company RFM Corp. is set to wipe out its long-term debt, taking advantage of an expansion in cash flow to boost its balance sheet.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Wednesday, RFM said it was set to retire P252 million worth of debt ahead of maturity this week. This followed RFM’s settlement of P280 million in long-term obligations last May.

“The stronger income performance in the first half of the year, plus faster collection of accounts receivables, shored-up the cash flows, which allowed us to settle earlier our long-term loans. This will bring down long-term debt to zero, making RFM long-term loan debt-free. If we factor in the short-term loans, debt to equity ratio is only 5 percent,” RFM president and chief executive Jose Concepcion III said.

In the first six months, RFM’s net income increased by 11 percent year-on-year to P472 million. At the operating profit level, RFM posted P665 million in six-month income, up 17 percent from a year ago.