Molinos Rio de la Plata SA

What it is

Founded in 1902, Molinos Río de la Plata is Argentina’s largest branded food products company, with a range of offerings including oils, pasta, and flour, reaching over 20 countries. It owns and operates 14 industrial plants across Argentina and exports to over 45 countries.

Its most recognisable brands include Matarazzo, Lucchetti, Granja del Sol, Gallo, Exquisita, Cocinero, Don Vicente, Arlistán, Preferido, Lira, and Ruca Malen. The company runs two divisions: a branded consumer segment (pasta, oils, rice, frozen foods, wines, yerba mate) and a generic segment that mills and distributes raw grain.

Who owns it

The Pérez Companc family, one of Argentina’s wealthiest, owns 75% of the company — a stake acquired from grain giant Bunge International in 1999; the key principal today is Luis Pérez Companc. In May 2024, the family consolidated control further: three siblings — Luis, Rosario, and Pilar Pérez Companc — bought out the shares held by their siblings Jorge, Cecilia, and Catalina in a deal covering Molinos Río de la Plata, Molinos Agro, and energy company Pecom, worth more than USD 450m.

The family’s grip is reinforced by a dual-class share structure: Class A shares carry five votes each against one vote for Class B shares, allowing the Pérez Compancs to maintain concentrated control. Institutional investors hold about 6.5% of the float; the remainder trades freely on the Buenos Aires exchange.

Who runs it

The board is chaired by Luis Pérez Companc as President, with Amancio Hipólito Oneto as Vice-President; Agustín María Llanos sits on the board and also serves as CEO. Llanos was appointed CEO of Molinos and had previously served as General Manager of the Branded Business division since 2012.

Llanos is confirmed as CEO in the company’s own 2024 Sustainability Report. The head of administration and finance (CFO equivalent) is not disclosed by name in available primary sources.

The money, in plain words

Argentina’s inflation crisis has put Molinos through a brutal squeeze. Revenue fell roughly 18% from FY2024 to FY2025 in peso terms — a real-terms collapse once you strip out price rises — and the company lost about ARS 40.7bn (~USD 27.9m), a net loss margin of –4.3% (our calculation).

That compares with a net profit of ARS 43.0bn (US$29 mn) in FY2024 and ARS 100.7bn (US$69 mn) in FY2023, a swing that tells you how quickly Argentine macro can erase food-company earnings.

The gross margin — how much the company keeps after the cost of ingredients and production before other expenses — held at 24.6% (our calculation), suggesting the core brands still have pricing power; the losses are being driven by operating costs and financial charges rather than a collapse in product pricing. Despite the loss, the company is paying a dividend yield of 18.25%, unusually high and likely reflecting a policy of returning cash even in a difficult year — worth watching for sustainability.

What it is doing now

In September 2024, Molinos agreed to buy a portfolio of frozen-pizza operations in Argentina from US-based McCain Foods, acquiring the Sibarita brand and a production facility in Pilar, Buenos Aires province. The acquisition includes the Sibarita brand rights for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, and Uruguay.

More recently still, Molinos finalised an agreement to purchase the plant-based food and beverage business of NotCo in both Argentina and Uruguay, filing notice with the Argentine stock exchange. Financial terms were not disclosed; the deal remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Two acquisitions in quick succession signals that management is using the macro disruption to buy brands cheaply.

What to watch

• Margin recovery: can the gross margin of 24.6% translate into operating profit as Argentine inflation stabilises under the Milei government’s adjustment programme?
• Dividend cover: an 18.25% yield on a loss-making year is a flag — confirm whether the payout is funded by cash reserves or will be cut.
• NotCo deal closing: the acquisition of NotCo’s plant-based businesses in Argentina and Uruguay is described in the company’s own filing as expanding the consumption occasions it serves and adding “innovation credentials based on trends associated with a new generation of consumers.”
• Ownership watch: in May 2024, Luis Pérez Companc and his sisters Rosario and Pilar concentrated control of Molinos Río de la Plata, Molinos Agro, and Pecom. Any further restructuring or stake disposal would move the share price materially given the tight float.

This is news, not investment advice.