RCL, backed by South African billionaire Johann Rupert, posts $1.5 billion revenue

RCL Foods, the South African consumer goods and milling group backed by billionaire Johann Rupert, reported modest revenue growth for the year ended June 30, 2025, with profit holding steady as softer demand and lower volumes weighed on results.

Revenue inched up 1.8 percent to R26.5 billion ($1.5 billion) from R26.02 billion ($1.47 billion) a year earlier. Headline earnings per share from continuing operations rose 28.5 percent to R1.563 ($0.088), supported by efficiency gains, though net profit was unchanged at R1.65 billion ($93.32 million).

Feed business softens sugar weakness

Operating performance varied across business lines. Underlying EBITDA from continuing operations increased 7.9 percent to R2.39 billion ($135.1 million), helped by a recovery in the baking unit and steady gains in Groceries. Baking benefited from product updates, improved processes, and firmer margins across bread, pies, milling, and specialty products.

Groceries also turned in stronger results, driven by higher-margin pet food, tighter cost control, and smoother production following fewer power cuts. Sugar remained under pressure from weak domestic demand and rising imports, but Molatek, the animal feed unit, partly offset the decline with stronger sales and better efficiency.

Rupert’s RCL Foods reshapes core business

RCL Foods, founded in 1960 as Rainbow Chicken and 77 percent owned by Rupert’s investment company Remgro, counts Selati sugar, Ouma rusks, and Yum Yum peanut butter among its household brands. The balance sheet weakened during the year, with assets falling 21.2 percent to $1.06 billion and equity down 22.7 percent to $586.8 million.

After selling Vector Logistics and unbundling Rainbow, the group is now focused on Groceries, Baking, Sugar, and shared services. Management said it is prioritizing cost discipline and flexibility as it adapts to changing consumer demand.