Reckitt Benckiser 2018 Pretax Profit Rose 8.9%

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) said Monday that pretax profit rose 8.9% in 2018 on revenue that topped guidance, and the company forecast faster like-for-like revenue growth for the year ahead.

Pretax profit for the year was 2.72 billion pounds ($3.51 billion) compared with GBP2.50 billion in 2017, the consumer-goods company said. Net profit fell 65% at GBP2.16 billion compared with GBP6.17 billion a year earlier, the company said.

The owner of brands such as Durex, Air Wick and Lysol said revenue increased 10% to GBP12.60 billion last year from GBP11.45 billion in 2017. Revenue was up 15% at constant currency, Reckitt said. On a pro forma like-for-like basis, revenue was up 3%, with a 4% rise in the fourth quarter, the company said.

Reckitt had guided for net revenue at constant-currency rates to increase by 14% to 15% and like-for-like revenue growth to be at the upper end of a 2% to 3% range.

The company's adjusted operating margin was 26.7%, down 60 basis points on year but up 20 basis points on a pro forma basis, Reckitt said.

Reckitt said that it remains on track to achieve $300 million in synergy savings from its acquisition of baby-food maker Mead Johnson, and that it targets like-for-like net revenue growth of between 3% and 4% with a stable adjusted operating margin in 2019.

The board declared a final dividend of 100.2 pence a share, up from 97.7 pence a share in 2017.

Write to Adria Calatayud at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2019 02:37 ET (07:37 GMT)

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