Reckitt Benckiser achieved record sales growth in the first quarter and predicted a stronger-than-expected performance in 2020 as customers stocked up on Lysol disinfectants, Mucinex cough syrup and Dettol soap ahead of the coronavirus lockdowns.
The boom in demand has come as the company had been battling intense competition in the health and hygiene industry. In February, Reckitt had announced plans to spend 2 billion pounds over the next three years to spur growth.
Reckitt said its business was more resilient now than a few months ago and it was adjusting quickly to a world where personal hygiene was becoming more important.
Laxman Narasimhan, who joined as CEO in September, said that he expected more pronounced changes in consumer behaviour the longer people are forced to sit at home. He said that higher e-commerce usage and a preference for more well-known brands were some of the changes in behaviour he expected to stick after the pandemic subsides.
“I do not expect that 2022 or 2023 is going to look similar to what 2019 looked,” Narasimhan said on a post-earnings call with reporters and analysts, adding that the company was responding to these changes by pouring more money into developing its online business and introducing more products and quantities of its popular hygiene brands such as Lysol and Dettol.
His comments mirrored those of his counterparts at Unilever (ULVR.L) and Procter & Gamble, which have also been releasing new products and ramping up production of cleaning supplies as they see unprecedented demand.
Comments
0 comment