Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) is transforming itself from a general consumer goods company into a health and hygiene business. So naturally investors were disappointed when it missed the consensus estimate of 2.6 per cent like-for-like sales growth during the first quarter, coming in instead at 2 per cent. The health business grew by 1 per cent, held back by poor sales of its footcare brand Scholl. Plans are underway to improve this division, including new products in the pipeline.
The home hygiene business had a better start to the year with comparable revenue up 4 per cent, with some tailwinds in the seasonal sales of its cleaning product Lysol. Chief executive Rakesh Kapoor said the integration of Mead Johnson is well underway, where a strong period in China helped boost comparable sales here by 6 per cent. The company expects to deliver 2 to 3 per cent like-for-like sales growth by the full year, with total revenue growth at constant rates of 13 to 14 per cent.
