Finance
Durex maker reckitt beats Q4 sales expectations on emerging market strength
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 5, 2026
3 min readLast updated: March 5, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 5, 2026
3 min readLast updated: March 5, 2026
Reckitt exceeded Q4 like‑for‑like net sales expectations with 5.4% growth (vs. 4.7% consensus), driven by emerging markets strength. The company forecasts its Core Reckitt business to grow 4–5% like‑for‑like net revenue in 2026.
By Alexander Marrow
LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Reckitt CEO Kris Licht identified countries such as China and India as a "must-win set of markets" for the consumer goods company, which on Thursday beat its quarterly sales forecast as double-digit growth in emerging markets offset declining sales in Europe.
Along with consumer goods rivals such as Nestle and Unilever, Reckitt has been fine-tuning its portfolio to focus on high-growth, high-margin brands to try and boost sales volumes.
Reckitt's shares, which hit a near three-year high last week, tumbled 4.4% by 1124 GMT, as analysts said core margins could be undermined by stranded costs associated with the $4.8 billion divestiture of the group's Essential Home division to private equity firm Advent International, finalised on December 31.
The maker of Durex condoms and Lysol cleaning products reported total group like-for-like net revenue growth of 5.4% for the quarter ended December 31, compared with 4.7% expected in a company-compiled consensus, and said it expected its core businesses to grow at 4% to 5% in 2026.
"The runway for growth is so significant," Licht told Reuters, highlighting emerging markets' opportunities for organic growth, with the number of middle class households in these markets now greater than Europe and the U.S. combined.
"From a standpoint of where we have to win, this is absolutely a must-win set of markets for us."
Revenue in emerging markets surged 17.2%, led by China and India, while Europe recorded a quarterly drop of 4.5%.
That was the 10th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in emerging markets.
Barclays analysts said the emerging markets segment was "doing the heavy lifting for the group and provides a reliable growth engine at a time when developed markets category growth is sluggish."
The British company, which also produces Nurofen tablets and cold remedy Lemsip, said it expected the challenging trading environment in Europe to continue, forecasting first-quarter revenue growth in its core businesses to be below its full-year guide.
It warned that a milder cold and flu season this year would hurt its seasonal over-the-counter business in the first quarter of 2026, something consumer healthcare group Haleon also flagged when reporting results last week.
Reckitt, whose volumes declined by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, declined to give explicit margin guidance for 2026.
"The margin benefit from the divestiture of essential home is being offset by stranded costs and FX," said Quilter Cheviot analyst Chris Beckett.
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Tomasz Janowski and Susan Fenton)
Strong performance in emerging markets led to Reckitt beating its fourth-quarter sales expectations.
Reckitt reported a 5.4% like-for-like net revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
Reckitt's 5.4% growth exceeded the 4.7% expected in a company-compiled consensus.
Reckitt expects its core businesses to grow at a rate of 4% to 5% by 2026.
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