Reckitt Benckiser Cuts 2017 Guidance on Falling 3Q Comparable Revenue
18 October 2017 - 6:08PM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC
(RB.LN) on Wednesday lowered its full-year guidance for comparable
revenue, after reporting a 1% fall in the metric for the third
quarter of 2017.
The consumer health and household company, whose brands include
Dettol, Airwick, Durex and Scholl, said like-for-like
revenue--excluding the impact of foreign exchange rates,
acquisitions and disposals--was hit by a continued challenging
market environment.
The company said it is now targeting flat performance for its
base operations, excluding the recently acquired U.S. baby-food
maker Mead Johnson. In July, the company lowered its full-year
comparable revenue growth target to 2% and said it expected
like-for-like revenue to rise again over the second half after
declining in the first six months of the year.
In the third quarter, Reckitt Benckiser generated net revenue of
GBP3.21 billion ($4.24 billion), up 30% year on year. The company
added that its revenue benefited from positive foreign exchange
movements.
The British consumer giant is currently integrating Mead Johnson
which it bought for $16.6 billion in June. Following the
acquisition it sold its food division to U.S. spice maker McCormick
& Co. (MKC) for $4.2 billion in July.
Reckitt Benckiser said Mead Johnson's like-for-like revenue
increased by 1% in the third quarter, helped by strong market
growth in China and lifted its target for that business to a "minus
2% to flat" performance for full 2017.
Reckitt is dealing with challenges posed by changing consumer
tastes that are affecting larger peers like Procter & Gamble
Co. (PG) and Unilever PLC (ULVR.LN).
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 18, 2017 02:53 ET (06:53 GMT)
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