Cough and cold products boost Reckitt’s sales July 29, 2013 RECKITT Benckiser chief executive Rakesh Kapoor said the company’s focus on expanding its health and hygiene arm was paying off as strong demand for brands such as Durex and Nurofen helped boost half-year sales. Kapoor, who took over as chief executive in 2011, has changed the company’s strategy to concentrate on high-margin health and hygiene [...]
London Report: UK’s corporate calendar packed in results season July 28, 2013 THE CORPORATE calendar is packed this week, as businesses including ITV, BP, Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland update the market amid a swathe of other results. The week begins with figures from Fidessa Group, Hammerson, InterContinental Hotels Group, Intertek Group, JKX Oil & Gas, Keller Group, Senior, Vernalis, Reckitt Benckiser Group, National Grid, [...]
Reckitt loses fight to block generic drugs February 25, 2013 SHARES in Reckitt Benckiser closed three per cent lower yesterday after US authorities said they will allow rivals to produce generic versions of the firm’s heroin substitute. The consumer health goods company’s pharmaceuticals division makes most of its profit from Suboxone, a treatment containing buprenorphine that helps people addicted to opiates cope with ceasing to [...]
FTSE shrugs off downgrade February 25, 2013 THE blue chip index rose this morning – led by headline mining and banking shares – on signs that the US and Japan would continue loose monetary policy for some time. The FTSE 100 was up 0.7 per cent in early deals, as the market brushed off Moody’s downgrade of the UK’s AAA credit rating, [...]
Amec weighs on FTSE February 14, 2013 The FTSE 100 edged down this morning as oil engineer Amec weighed heavily on the index. Shares in the engineer lost more than 5.5 per cent in early trading, despite it posting an 11 per cent hike in annual earnings this morning, enabling it to pledge a 20 per cent increase in its dividend. “In [...]
Cough and cold season boosts Reckitt figures February 13, 2013 A HEAVY flu and cold season in the US caused misery for many people but helped Strepsils-maker Reckitt Benckiser yesterday report a healthy lift in fourth quarter sales. Reckitt said sales in Europe and North America grew three per cent after “higher incidences of cold and flu” had boosted demand for products such as Mucinex [...]
Analyst Views | Has Reckitt Benckiser got off to a healthy start to 2013? February 13, 2013 GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE GORDON Reckitt’s full-year results came in ahead of expectations, with like-for-like growth of six per cent in the fourth quarter better than our 4.2 per cent forecast, with the outperformance entirely coming in ENA (Europe, North America) where growth was three per cent helped by a favourable cold season. DARREN SHIRLEY [...]
Late rally sees FTSE 100 hit a five-year high February 13, 2013 THE FTSE 100 staged a late rally yesterday when shorts got squeezed by the continued resilience of the market on the back of rising investor confidence. Britain’s top share index closed up 20.73 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 6,359.11, and touched an intraday high of 6,384.70 – its highest in five years. The index, [...]
Firms going ex-dividend hit FTSE 100 February 13, 2013 The leading share index fell this morning, ending a three-session rally as it was weighed down by a number of blue chips going ex-dividend. Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca led the fallers, shedding more than three per cent as it went ex-dividend. Business software provider Sage and oil giant BP fell 1.63 per cent and 1.44 per [...]
Health and hygiene arm boosts Reckitt Benckiser February 13, 2013 Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser beat expectations over the full year, as sales of health and hygiene products led growth. The FTSE 100 consumer giant posted net revenue of £9.6bn over 2012, and full-year adjusted earnings per share of 264.4p, up seven per cent. Chief executive Rakesh Kapoor has shifted focus to fast-growing emerging markets [...]