London, April 22, 2026, 12:15 BST
Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc slid Wednesday as the maker of Dettol and Durex reported first-quarter sales below forecasts. The company also flagged that first-half margins are set to drop by about 200 basis points, or 2 percentage points, from last year. Reckitt saw its stock tumble up to 7%, hitting a low not seen since late 2024.
Why does this update count? Reckitt is working to restore investor trust in its main health and hygiene lines, offloading underperforming or non-core parts along the way. The slow first quarter ups the pressure for the remainder of the year, though the company is sticking with its 2026 target for Core Reckitt—4% to 5% like-for-like sales growth. That metric excludes currency fluctuations and M&A impacts.
Reckitt’s core like-for-like net revenue edged up 1.3% for the first quarter, missing the 2.9% analysts had forecast in a poll organized by the company, according to Reuters. The group pointed to softer cold-and-flu product sales in the U.S. and Europe, rising oil costs, sanctions fallout in Russia, and continued fallout from the Middle East conflict.
Group net revenue dropped 11.8% on an IFRS basis, landing at 3.25 billion pounds, the company reported. The numbers took a hit from currency pressure and the sale of Essential Home, with last year’s revenue from that business now out of the equation. Emerging markets managed a 7.6% like-for-like gain. Europe declined 4.2%. North America edged down 0.9%.
Chief Executive Kris Licht pointed to “very low seasonal incidence” and sluggish demand across some European categories as drags on Core Reckitt’s quarter, though he left the full-year sales outlook unchanged. Stripping out seasonal over-the-counter medicines—essentially non-prescription remedies—Core Reckitt delivered 3.1% growth, according to the company. Reckitt
Performance split sharply across categories. Germ Protection—think Dettol and Lysol—delivered 9.5% like-for-like growth. Household Care slid 7.6%. Self-Care barely moved, more or less flat, as seasonal OTC sales dropped 10.8%. Retailers trimmed inventories after a weak cold-and-flu season.
Russia just layered on more trouble. Reckitt’s Russian arm is now rolling out homegrown products and filing new intellectual property claims, aiming to swap in local brands for much of its hygiene lineup after stricter EU sanctions choked off supply and brand access. Reckitt told Reuters that this push is being managed entirely within Russia—no backing from headquarters.
China’s performance was uneven. Reckitt reported its 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the country, boosted by strong Dettol sales. But Durex took a hit, facing a new 13% value-added tax on condoms and tighter rules on online marketing content. Finance chief Shannon Eisenhardt told analysts there have been no issues with condom supplies or sourcing so far, according to Reuters.
Investors didn’t buy it. Shares slid 5.6% to 4,644 pence in London’s morning session, marking the steepest loss on a mostly unchanged FTSE 100, according to Alliance News via AJ Bell. The same report flagged that emerging-market growth fell short of the 10.4% consensus forecast.
Harsharan Mann, who leads the consumer sector hub at Aviva Investors—one of Reckitt’s shareholders—described the numbers to Reuters as “broad-based muted growth.” She flagged potential for similar headwinds at other staples firms this quarter. For JPMorgan, analyst Celine Pannuti said the results throw Reckitt’s annual targets into question. Reuters
The portfolio story isn’t finished yet. Reckitt, after unloading its Essential Home unit for $4.8 billion back in December, has been zeroing in on core labels like Durex, Lysol, and Mucinex. Meanwhile, the company is still mulling what to do with Mead Johnson, its baby-formula arm facing litigation, which has reportedly attracted Danone’s interest.
The danger? That hoped-for recovery in the second half could hit turbulence. Reckitt flagged that if oil sticks at $110 a barrel through the rest of 2026, it faces an input-cost bump of roughly 130 million to 150 million pounds—manageable, according to the company. But it also cautioned: persistently high commodity prices would put pressure on household budgets and could dent demand.
