{"id":41106,"title":"Reckitt Benckiser Warns of Potential Delays in NonCore Brand Sales as Market Conditions Tighten","publisher":"Stockmark.IT","author":"Stockmark.IT Website","published":"2025-04-24T05:02:08+00:00","modified":"2025-04-23T13:47:57+00:00","canonical_url":"https://stockmark.it/reckitt-benckiser-warns-of-potential-delays-in-noncore-brand-sales-as-market-conditions-tighten/","markdown_url":"https://stockmark.it/reckitt-benckiser-warns-of-potential-delays-in-noncore-brand-sales-as-market-conditions-tighten.md","json_url":"https://stockmark.it/reckitt-benckiser-warns-of-potential-delays-in-noncore-brand-sales-as-market-conditions-tighten.json","category":"Consumer Goods","categories":["Consumer Goods"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/stockmark.it/wp-content/uploads/supermarket.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has signalled potential delays in its planned divestment of homecare brands, citing challenging market conditions amid weaker-than-anticipated first-quarter performance. The company’s chief executive, Kris Licht, acknowledged the increasingly complex environment for executing transactions in the current market landscape.\n\nThe FTSE 100 company reported net revenues of £3.68 billion, representing a modest 1.1% like-for-like increase, falling short of analysts’ expectations of 1.4%. The essential home business unit, comprising 13% of group sales, experienced a concerning 7% decline in like-for-like sales during the first quarter.\n\nMarket headwinds have been particularly strong in North America and Europe, where declining consumer confidence has led to volume reductions of 1.9%. The company’s share price responded negatively to the news, dropping 5.6% to £46.71, positioning Reckitt among the day’s largest fallers on the FTSE 100.\n\nDespite these challenges, Reckitt maintains its full-year guidance of 2-4% like-for-like net sales growth, with performance expected to be weighted towards the second half. The company’s emerging markets division has shown remarkable resilience, posting 10.7% growth in the quarter, helping to offset weaknesses in other regions.\n\nThe restructuring initiative, announced last July, aims to streamline operations by divesting non-core brands such as Mr Sheen and Air Wick, while conducting a strategic review of Mead Johnson. The company plans to focus on high-growth, high-margin power brands including Mucinex, Gaviscon, Nurofen, and Durex following the reorganisation.\n\nThe Slough-based manufacturer remains optimistic about managing potential impacts from international trade tensions, citing minimal exposure to US-China trade flows and various mitigation strategies, including manufacturing investments and pricing power leverage."}