Food and beverage firm RFM Corporation continued to perform above par despite the economic slowdown, reporting a 78 percent jump in net income for the first three quarters of the year to P282 million.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) Saturday, RFM said the three-quarter income level for 2009 has surpassed the fullyear P245 million net income it posted in 2008.

RFM also reported net sales of P5.78 billion for the first nine months of the year, or a 7 percent increase from the P5.4 billion for the same period in 2008.

RFM president Joey Concepcion said the improvement in the company’s financial performance came from better operations and lower costs, particularly with the transfer to more modern and efficient production facilities for its pasta, beverage and meat products.

He also credited the softened prices of major raw materials this year, as compared to their high levels last year.

Concepcion expressed confidence that RFM sales would continue to grow well ahead of market growth, as the company “leads 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.”

He noted that their pasta brand “continues to be the market leader nationwide based on recent retail audits, because of its strong value proposition to Filipino consumers.”

It is now the newest market leader in the RFM Group, after the Selecta brand 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.

Moving forward, Concepcion expressed optimism in the growth performance of RFM’s new Health Beverage Line.