LONDON, April 30, 2026, 16:04 BST
Reckitt Benckiser Group plc crept up 0.93% to 4,686p by 15:47 BST on Thursday, market data showed, but the Dettol, Durex, and Finish owner stayed stuck at the back of the pack. Investors faced a modest uptick, though cost pressures remained in focus. Total return for the month? Down 7.61%. Three months: off 19.64%.
Unilever’s Thursday update threw the spotlight on Reckitt, raising a key question: just how much extra cost can consumer-goods giants pass along before shoppers balk. Unilever plans to bump up prices in “small doses” after war-fueled costs overshot expectations. According to Reuters, rivals like Nestle, Procter & Gamble, and Reckitt have already warned about climbing costs or pressure on margins. Reuters
Reckitt heads into the test on shaky ground. The company missed quarterly like-for-like net revenue forecasts last week—core growth came in at just 1.3% for the first three months of the year, well below the 2.9% analysts had looked for in a company poll. Like-for-like refers to comparable sales. Harsharan Mann, consumer sector hub lead at Aviva Investors, described the results as “broad-based muted growth.” JPMorgan’s Celine Pannuti flagged the update as raising questions over Reckitt’s ability to meet full-year goals. Reuters
The 2026 core like-for-like revenue growth forecast remains at 4% to 5%. CEO Kris Licht pointed to “very low seasonal incidence,” softness in some European categories, and geopolitical issues as weighing on core revenue. Strip out seasonal over-the-counter products, and core growth lands at 3.1%. Reckitt
Margin’s where the squeeze is showing. CFO Shannon Eisenhardt flagged to analysts that adjusted operating profit margin for the first half would land roughly 200 basis points under last year’s 24.6%—a basis point being one-hundredth of a percent. She also warned that if oil averages $110 a barrel through the rest of 2026, they’re staring at a gross input-cost hit somewhere between £130 million and £150 million.
Investors are seeing the split in performance play out across regions. Emerging markets climbed 7.6%, thanks largely to double-digit gains in China and India. Europe, though, sank 4.2%, and North America edged down 0.9%. Germ protection was a bright spot, up 9.5%, but household care plunged 7.6% as the promotional environment got tougher.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould didn’t mince words, calling this soft cold-and-flu season “a headache for Reckitt” as it drags down sales of Lemsip and Strepsils, even if it’s a relief for consumers. Mould noted that Licht, who’s now been in charge for more than two years, could find himself under sharper scrutiny, with a strategy once looking solid for 2025 now knocked off course. AJ Bell
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, expects the numbers to pick up later in the year, but points out that Mead Johnson Nutrition is still for sale. He flagged that any deal for the infant-nutrition arm likely won’t reach the £12.5 billion Reckitt shelled out back in 2017. Until a sale gets done, it’s holding back the wider group’s performance.
Reckitt’s outlook for the second half hinges on dodging higher costs and banking on a boost from Europe and a more predictable cold-and-flu season. Since the war started, a Reuters survey tracked 24 companies slashing or pulling guidance, 35 pushing through price hikes, and 36 warning of financial damage. AJ Bell’s Dan Coatsworth figures staples firms will attempt to pass those costs down the line, “but they might struggle,” he says. Zavier Wong at eToro adds that if energy prices keep climbing, the squeeze between pricing and volume gets even tougher. Reuters
