Reckitt Benckiser announces strong revenue growth as it tackles inflation in the first half

Reckitt Benckiser reported strong revenues and performance in the first half of 2022 as it continues to tackle the challenging inflationary pressures gripping the global economy.

The consumer goods company reported a revenue growth of 8.6 per cent to £3.5bn and saw continued broad-based growth across all of its business units and geographies. Adjusted operating profit in the first half was £1.7bn, compared with £1.4bn in H1 2021.

Reckitt, known brands like Dettol and Harpic, had strong growth across its Health, Hygiene, and Nutrition product areas. A competitor’s supply issues also benefitted the company’s growth. 

The company mitigated the impact of inflationary pressures by delivering £370m of savings and implementing favourable product mix and pricing strategies as well as with one-off and short-term benefits.

The strong H1 performance led to the company increasing expectations for 2022 and sees like-for-like net revenue growth of between 5 per cent to 8 per cent for 2022. 

“We have delivered an excellent first half performance in 2022.  Innovation and improved in-market execution are driving sustained, broad-based revenue growth and market share momentum across our portfolio,” CEO Laxman Narasimhan said.

“Driving our earnings model to mitigate the very challenging inflationary environment is a key focus throughout our entire organisation,” he added, mentioning the importance of “exceptional execution” across global operations for strong performance.