By Dimitrios Kontos

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) said Friday that first-half pretax profit increased 9.5% on year, and it raised its total net revenue growth target for the full year as its Infant Formula and Child Nutrition segment is exceeding expectations.

The consumer-goods company said pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 was 1.11 billion pounds ($1.46 billion) compared with GBP1.02 billion for the year-earlier period.

The company behind brands such as Cillit Bang cleaning products and Nurofen pain killers said revenue for the period rose to GBP6.14 billion from a restated figure of GBP4.98 billion for a year ago. The consensus forecast was for revenue of GBP6.01 billion, according to two analysts polled by FactSet.

Operating profit for the period increased to GBP1.29 billion from GBP1.06 billion a year earlier, the company said.

The board proposed an interim dividend of 70.5 pence a share, up from 66.6 pence a year earlier.

The company said that since its base business is delivering in line with expectations and the IFCN segment is ahead, it has raised its 2018 target for total net revenue growth at constant rates to between 14% and 15% from between 13% and 14% previously.

Reckitt Benckiser said its expectations for full-year operating margin, as well as its medium-term target of moderate operating margin expansion, remain unchanged.

Write to Dimitrios Kontos at dimitrios.kontos@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2018 02:39 ET (06:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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