Baking revival sweetens RCL’s FY performance

RCL FOODS Limited has reported solid results for the year ended June 2025, supported by a strong turnaround in its Baking division and steady performance from its Grocery segment.

Revenue from continuing operations rose 1.8% to R26.5 billion, while Ebitda climbed 11.4% to R2.56 million. Underlying Ebitda, which excludes once-off items and accounting adjustments, increased 7.9% to R2.39 million. Headline earnings per share (Heps) from continuing operations jumped 28.5% to 156.3 cents, with underlying Heps up 14.4% to 146.1 cents.

The board declared a final dividend of 40 cents per share, taking the total payout for the 2025 financial year to 60 cents, compared to 35 cents in 2024.

“Ee are committed to our Purpose of Growing What Matters, ensuring our business remains sustainable while delivering value for all stakeholders. This means providing affordable food to consumers, maintaining employment for our people and generating acceptable returns for our shareholders. We achieve this through carefully balancing the relationship between sales volumes and prices, managing our costs, while making responsible trade-offs that align with our purpose,” said RCL Foods’s CEO Paul Cruickshank.

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Segment performance

Groceries delivered a 19.1% rise in underlying Ebitda to R592.2 million, boosted by pet food demand, operational efficiencies and reduced load shedding costs. Baking staged a strong turnaround, with underlying Ebitda surging 55% to R799.7 million on the back of improved volumes, efficiencies and innovation across its Bread, Milling, Pie and Speciality units.

Sugar contributed a solid operational result, though underlying Ebitda fell 24.3% to R963.1 million due to weaker consumer demand, higher imports and lower global prices. The Molatek animal feed business, part of the Sugar unit, maintained good performance.

This was RCL Foods’s first full year following the disposal of Vector Logistics and the unbundling of Rainbow Chicken, which listed separately on the JSE in July 2024.

RCL Foods employs around 10 000 people and owns over 20 household brands, including Yum Yum, Nola, Ouma Rusks, Sunbake, Supreme Flour, Selati Sugar, Bobtail and Catmor.

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