Consumer goods giant Reckitt said today that it was on track to deliver its full-year revenue and profit targets after like-for-like sales growth beat estimates in the first quarter as people continued to buy its cleaning products despite further price rises.
Over the three months to the end of March, the group’s like-for-like net revenue grew 1.5% to £3.74bn, with a volume decline of 0.5% offset by price/mix growth of 2%.
Reckitt’s Hygiene division saw LFL growth of 7.1% to £1.61bn, with volume growth of 2.9% and price/mix improvements of 4.2% across its brands such as Finish, Lysol, Harpic and Vanish. The group noted that this was driven by “carry over pricing and some minor in-year pricing actions”.
In its Health unit, LFL revenues rose 1.0% to £1.54bn, with stable volumes and price/mix improvements of 1.1%. Reckitt pointed to strong volume growth across Intimate Wellness, non-seasonal over-the-counter (OTC) brands, VMS and Dettol. This was offset by an expected lapping of prior-year retailer inventory rebuild in seasonal OTC products.
In Nutrition, LFL revenue fell 9.9% as the business continued to rebase from temporary market share gains from the competitor supply issue in prior years.
Reckitt reiterated its 2024 guidance for LFL revenue growth of between 2% and 4% for the group. It also continues to expect mid-single-digit growth for the Health and Hygiene portfolios and a mid to high-single-digit decline for the Nutrition business.
Chief Executive Kris Licht said: “We have delivered a good first quarter. Following a period of price-led growth, we are now returning to a more balanced contribution from price, mix and volume. We grew volumes in many of our powerbrands in the quarter, including Lysol, Dettol, Durex and Finish, as well as our non-seasonal OTC portfolio. In addition, we continue to benefit from carryover pricing and consumers trading up to our premium innovations.
“The net revenue performance in the quarter is in line with our expectations. Hygiene delivered broad-based growth. Health saw good growth across many brands, reduced by a tough comparator in our cold & flu OTC brands. Nutrition continues to normalise in the US as expected, and we have maintained our value market share leadership.”
The group’s shares were up over 5% in early trading.
