like-for-like sales growth of 0.6%<\/a>, around a whole percentage point below consensus forecasts, with core business growth also falling short.<\/p>\nSeasonal cold and flu products were a key drag on the core business, with 1.3% like-for-like core revenues rising to 3.1% if these are excluded, as sales volumes slipped into decline.<\/p>\n
UBS said three of Reckitt\u2019s four main categories underperformed expectations, with weakness particularly evident in household and intimate wellness, while Europe and North America both lagged forecasts. Emerging markets remained a relative bright spot but still came in below estimates.<\/p>\n
There were some positives. The Mead Johnson nutrition arm declined less than expected, while germ protection brands such as Dettol and Lysol continued to deliver strong growth.<\/p>\n
Even so, analysts suggest the broader picture remains fragile.<\/p>\n
Russ Mould at AJ Bell said chief executive Kris Licht is “likely to come under greater scrutiny” after the quarterly results.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0weak cold and flu season was acknowledged as having hit\u00a0sales of Lemsip and Strepsils, with rising energy costs risk squeezing consumers and increasing costs.<\/p>\n
“Households watching their pennies could accelerate a trend of people buying cheaper own-label products,\u201d said Mould.<\/p>\n
A disposal of the Mead Johnson division could provide a boost, though there is a good possibility that it would be a discounted price due to market uncertainty.<\/p>\n
With RB shares down 5.5% to\u00a04,647p on Wednesday, Mould said the muted share price reaction signals \u201chealthy scepticism\u201d over Reckitt\u2019s ability to meet full-year targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reckitt Benckiser: analysts and investors grow sceptical over full-year targets Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock Reckitt Benckiser…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21355],"tags":[21526,21527,21376],"class_list":["post-42472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reckitt-benckiser","tag-consensus-forecasts","tag-consumer-goods","tag-reckitt-benckiser"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116608739894975034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Reckitt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/992580371c5328264a911cae595864fe.jpeg\")
Reckitt Benckiser: analysts and investors grow sceptical over full-year targets Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock <\/p>\n