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LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Britain's Reckitt Benckiser , maker of Dettol and Lysol cleaning products, on Wednesday raised its full-year revenue forecast after steep price hikes helped it beat second-quarter sales expectations.
The company said quarterly like-for-like revenue rose 11.9% on a constant currency basis, ahead of the 6.8% growth analysts had expected in a company-supplied poll.
Quarterly sales also received a roughly 3.3% boost from sales of its Enfamil baby formula amid a shortage of supplies in the United States, after market leader Abbott Laboratories recalled dozens of brands in February.
"We now expect like-for-like net revenue growth of 5% - 8% for 2022, and growth in adjusted operating margins," Reckitt said in a statement. In April, the company had said it expected net revenue growth in the upper part of a 1-4% range.
Reckitt, whose products also include Nurofen painkillers, Durex condoms and Strepsils cough lozenges, is one of many packaged goods companies that have struggled with higher input costs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supply chain logjams at major ports and soaring energy costs due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict have only made matters worse, sending the prices of key raw materials like palm oil, pulp and plastic to record highs.
To combat higher expenses and make up for lacklustre volumes as consumers traded down to supermarkets' private label brands, Reckitt raised prices 9.7% in the quarter. Sales volumes were up 2.2%. (Reporting by Richa Naidu Editing by Mark Potter)