| Imagery Source: Rhodes Food Group Holdings Limited |
| Information Source: Share Net |
| RFG Holdings Limited |
| Key features |
- Group revenue +1.6% to R8.1 billion
|
- Regional revenue +4.1% to R6.6 billion
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- Group operating profit margin -230 basis points to 8.3%
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- Normalised Group operating profit margin* -120 bps to 9.6%
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- Regional operating profit margin -170 basis points to 8.9%
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- Normalised regional operating profit margin* -20 bps to 10.4%
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- Headline earnings -9.7% to R521 million
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- Total dividend per share -10.4% to 99.6 cps
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- Net debt to equity ratio declined from 11.9% to 16.9%
|
| * Normalised for the impact of impairment loss in the regional segment |
| Trading and financial performance |
| Group revenue increased by 1.6% to R8.1 billion. The regional segment increased revenue by 4.1% in an environment of constrained consumer spending and continued weak sentiment. |
| Revenue in the international segment continued to be impacted by the global oversupply of deciduous fruit products, resulting in weaker demand. This has been compounded by the uncertainty of trade tariffs affecting shipments to customers in the United States. |
| Regional revenue accounted for 81% (2024: 80%) of the Group's revenue. |
| Fresh foods revenue increased by 7.4%, with price inflation of 5.5% and mix changes of 2.4%, while volumes declined by 0.5%. Ready meals reported good revenue and volume growth, supported by a resilient contribution from the pie category. |
| Long-life foods increased revenue by 2.1% as volumes slowed in the second half, as the impact of the constrained consumer spending became more evident in the final quarter of the financial year. After increasing by 14.5% in the six months to March 2025, volumes declined by 1.9% in the second six months to end the year 6.6% higher.Long-life foods also faced a particularly high sales base for September, following a strong performance in the same month of the prior year. |
| In line with the Group's strategy of focusing on its growth categories, dry foods and fruit juice continued to deliver strong volume and revenue growth. The long-life foods' performance was negatively impacted by pressure on canned meat volumes due to high input costs, and consumer pushback on higher prices. |
| In this environment, it was pleasing that the Group continued to record market and brand share gains in key product categories. The Group's brands are the market leaders in canned meat (Bull Brand), canned tomato (Rhodes), frozen pies (Today and Mama's) and puff pastry (Today). The Rhodes brand holds the number two position in fruit juice, nectar, canned fruit, jam, canned vegetables and infant meals, while Hinds is the number two brand in spices, herbs and peppers. |
| International revenue declined by 7.9% due to slower global demand arising from an oversupply of deciduous fruit products. After declining by 11.7% for the first six months of the financial year, export volumes were down 3.7% in the second half, closing the year 6.8% lower. |
| The Group's gross profit of R2.0 billion was marginally lower than the prior year, while the gross profit margin declined by 90 basis points ("bps") to 25.0%, largely due to the impact of adverse market conditions on the gross profit margin of the international segment. |
| Owing to the underperformance of the meat products operation due to slower demand and lower margins, an impairment loss of R104 million was recognised against this business unit. This resulted in the regional operating profit margin declining to 8.9% from 10.6% in the prior year. |
| Excluding the impairment loss, regional operating profit increased by 2.4% to R691 million, and the operating margin declined marginally to 10.4% (2024: 10.6%). |
| The international operating profit was R102 million lower at R87 million, with the operating profit margin reducing from 11.4% to 5.7% due to lower revenue and pressure on the gross profit margin owing to weak market conditions and Rand strength. |
| The lower international operating profit contributed to the Group's normalised operating profit declining by 9.9% to R778 million, with the margin 120 bps lower at 9.6%. |
| Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ("EBITDA") were 12.7% lower at R1.0 billion, and the EBITDA margin contracted by 210 bps to 12.4%. |
| Profit for the year decreased by 21.3% to R445 million, while earnings attributable to owners of the group reduced by 21.3% to R445 million. Earnings per share reduced by 21.8% to 170.4 cents. |
| Headline earnings at R521 million were 9.7% lower than the prior year, with headline earnings per share ("HEPS") declining by 10.3% to 199.2 cents and diluted HEPS down 9.9% to 197.0 cents. |
| A final dividend of 70.0 cents per share has been declared, bringing the total dividend for the year to 99.6 cents (2024: 111.1 cents), based on a dividend cover ratio of 2.0 times HEPS. |
| Owing mainly to the weaker performance of the international segment and the impairment loss in the regional segment, the Group did not achieve its medium-term targets. |
| Proposed acquisition by Premier Group Limited |
| On 16 October 2025, shareholders were advised that RFG had entered into a transaction implementation agreement with Premier Group Limited ("Premier") in terms of which Premier will acquire all the issued shares in RFG in a share swap transaction. The proposed transaction is subject to approval by RFG shareholders in a general meeting. A combined offer circular containing details of the offer will be issued to RFG shareholders on 13 November 2025, and a general meeting will be convened for 11 December 2025. The transaction is also subject to approval from regulatory and competition authorities. On the completion of the acquisition by Premier, RFG will delist from the JSE Limited. |
| Outlook |
| While consumers remain under pressure, South Africa's improving macroeconomic outlook with lower interest rates, sustained low inflation, and expectations of improved economic growth should support modest growth in consumer spending and sentiment in the short to medium term. |
| Management will maintain its focus on achieving its operating profit margin target of 10% through active management of sales volumes, gross profit margin and operating costs. |
| In the international segment, the oversupply of deciduous fruit products due to weaker global demand is expected to continue to place pressure on volumes and prices. The post-drought pineapple production in Eswatini is improving, although the recovery is taking longer than anticipated and continues to impact the performance of the international segment. |
| The impact of the increased tariffs on South African exports to the United States remains uncertain. The higher tariffs have reduced RFG's price competitiveness, and some existing customers are sourcing from producers in countries with a tariff advantage relative to South Africa. In response to the risk to sales, the group is implementing contingency plans to increase exports into other existing geographies and to pursue new market opportunities. |
| Any reference to future performance included in this announcement has not been reviewed or reported on by the Group's independent auditor. |
| Final cash dividend declaration |
| The board of directors has declared a gross dividend of 70.00 cents per share in respect of the year ended 28 September 2025 for holders of ordinary shares. |
| The dividend has been declared out of income reserves. A dividend withholding tax of 20% will apply to all shareholders who are not exempt, resulting in a net dividend to these shareholders of 56.00 cents per share. |
| Shareholders are advised of the following salient dates in respect of the dividend declaration: |
| Last day to trade to receive a dividend: Tuesday, 20 January 2026 |
| Shares commence trading "ex" the dividend: Wednesday, 21 January 2026 |
| Record date: Friday, 23 January 2026 |
| Dividend payment to shareholders: Monday, 26 January 2026 |
| Share certificates may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between Wednesday, 21 January 2026, and Friday, 23 January 2026, both days included. |
| The number of ordinary shares in issue at the date of declaration is 262 762 018. |
| For the full document, click the link below |
| RFG Holdings Limited |
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