Surging Dettol demand amid pandemic pushes Reckitt Benckiser’s profit higher
A surge in Dettol maker Reckitt Benckiser’s hygiene product sales helped the company post a sharp 14 per cent rise in operating profit for the pandemic-struck first half of 2020 today.
The figures
Operating profit rose 14 per cent year on year to £1.59bn, while profit before tax increased 13.9 per cent to £1.44bn.
Revenue also rose 10.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2019 to hit £6.91bn. That was helped by a 16 per cent leap in hygiene sales as demand for Dettol rocketed 62 per cent around the world.
Earnings per share climbed 14.5 per cent year on year on an adjusted basis to 166.5p, and were up 4.6 per cent to 144.2p on a reported basis.
Reckitt Benckiser recorded free cash flow of £1.9bn and net debt of £10.1bn.
What Reckitt Benckiser said
Reckitt CEO Laxman Narasimhan said:
The world has changed beyond recognition in 2020. COVID-19 is likely to be with us for the foreseeable future and, as a society, we are embedding new hygiene practices to protect our way of life.
We have the largest portfolio of surface disinfectant brands, including Dettol, Lysol and Sagrotan. Our largest brands are trusted by our consumers, as evident in their performance. Our Hygiene and base Health businesses have both performed well, with strong volume growth in challenging circumstances. At the same time, our infant and child nutrition business has delivered important operational and executional improvements, although focus remains on delivering revenue growth through innovation and navigating headwinds such as Hong Kong.
Our strategy to rejuvenate sustainable growth at RB is unchanged and we have made good progress in the first six months of the year, albeit there is still a lot to do.