Reckitt Benckiser Cuts 2019 Guidance After Weak 3Q Performance

By Ian Walker

Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (RB.LN) on Tuesday cut its guidance for the second time this year after a weak performance from its health business, which was hurt by the U.S., China issues.

The consumer-goods company--which houses Dettol, Harpic and durex among its brands--said it expects revenue for the year to be flat to 2% growth. At the time of its half-year earnings in July, the company lowered its guidance to between 2% to 3% growth from the previously guided 3% to 4%.

Revenue for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 5.3% to 3.29 billion pounds ($4.27 billon) taking the total for the year to date to GBP9.53 billion. This compares with GBP3.12 billion and GBP9.26 billion for the same periods last year. On a like-for-like basis third-quarter revenue was up 1.6% and 0.9% for the year to date.

Within this the health unit's revenue for the quarter was GBP1.96 billion, a 0.3% fall on a like-for-like basis compared with the third quarter of last year. This unit contributes 61% of the overall net revenue.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2019 02:42 ET (06:42 GMT)

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