Reckitt Benckiser 1st Half Pretax Profit Rose on Rising Demand for Hygiene, Health Products

By Matteo Castia

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC reported Tuesday a rise in first-half pretax profit as demand for hygiene and health products boosted revenue during the coronavirus pandemic, and raised its expectations for the full-year.

The consumer-goods company--which owns brands such as Durex condoms and Cillit Bang cleaning products among others--made a pretax profit of 1.44 billion pounds ($1.85 billion) for the six months, compared with GBP1.26 billion a year earlier.

Net revenue rose to GBP6.91 billion from GBP6.24 billion the previous year, up 12% on a like-for-like basis.

The board declared an interim dividend of 73 pence, unchanged year-on-year.

Reckitt Benckiser said it now forecasts high single-digit growth in net revenue for the full-year, and that it expects a 5% to 6% hit from the pandemic on 2021 net revenue.

"After a strong first half, we now expect our net revenue, margin and earnings performance to be better than our expectations in February and April, notwithstanding a cautious outlook for the balance of 2020 and an uncertain macro-economic environment," the company said.

Write to Matteo Castia at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2020 02:37 ET (06:37 GMT)

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