Reckitt Benckiser to Reorganize Business; Cuts Revenue Guidance on Tornado Disruption

By Elena Vardon

Reckitt Benckiser Group said it would reorganize its business and lowered its revenue growth guidance for the year.

The consumer-goods company--which houses Dettol, Harpic and Durex among its brands--now expects revenue growth on a like-for-like basis in the range of 1% to 3% due to the supply disruptions caused by tornado damage at its Mount Vernon, Indiana, warehouse and its impact on its nutrition business. It had previously guided for growth in the 2% to 4% range.

For the three months ended June 30, the London-listed group posted 3.43 billion pounds ($4.43 billion) in net revenue, in line with estimates taken from a company-compiled consensus.

Net revenue like-for-like growth was flat--falling short of estimates of 0.1% growth--as growth in its hygiene and health businesses offset declines in nutrition, it reported Wednesday. Price mix was up 2.2%, while volumes fell 2.2%, compared with expectations of 1.7% growth and 1.5% decline respectively.

"We expect revenue growth to accelerate in H2 and continue to target operating profit growth ahead of net revenue growth," Chief Executive Kris Licht said.

In a separate statement, the group said that it is refocusing its activity on its portfolio of powerbrands and will seek to exit from its home care brands that are no longer core by the end of 2025. It added that its Mead Johnson Nutrition business is now noncore and that it will consider strategic options for it.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2024 02:57 ET (06:57 GMT)

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