Reckitt Benckiser Swung to 1st Half Pretax Profit, Upgrades Revenue Growth View

By Michael Susin

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC reported Wednesday a swing to pretax profit for the first half of the year and upgraded its revenue growth expectations for the full year.

The consumer-goods company--which houses Dettol, Harpic and Durex among its brands--said it currently sees 2022 revenue growth on a like-for-like basis in the range of 5% to 8%. It previously expected growth in the range from 1% to 4%.

Reckitt posted a pretax profit of 1.69 billion pounds ($2.03 billion) for the six months compared with a loss of GBP1.94 billion in the year-earlier period.

Revenue rose to GBP6.89 billion from GBP6.60 billion the prior year. A consensus estimate taken from the company's website had forecast first-half revenue at GBP6.69 billion. Meanwhile, revenue for the second quarter was GBP3.46 billion, beating market views of GBP3.27 billion

The board declared an interim dividend of 73 pence a share, unchanged from last year.

"The actions we have taken to broaden the shoulders of our Lysol and Dettol franchises, combined with our innovation and penetration building initiatives have built a significantly larger, sustainable base from which we will grow," Chief Executive Officer Laxman Narasimhan said.

Write to Michael Susin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2022 02:54 ET (06:54 GMT)

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