Over the whole of 2022, costs for the Reckitt Benckiser, which also has brands such as Strepsils and Dettol, increased by 17 percent. The company therefore increased prices in the fourth quarter by 12 percent. As a result, the number of products sold fell by 5.8 percent. This was also partly due to the corona lockdowns in China, which prevented customers from visiting stores.
However, Reckitt Benckiser’s turnover rose by more than 9 percent on an annual basis to 14.5 billion pounds, the equivalent of 16.3 billion euros. Profits amounted to £2.3 billion, compared to a loss of £21 million a year earlier.
For the first half of this year, costs are expected to rise again, said chief financial officer Jeff Carr. He assumes an increase of no more than 9 percent, which will improve profitability slightly. But with the shrinking customer base, the question is to what extent Reckitt Benckiser can continue to raise prices to cope with this cost increase.
Uncertainty therefore hangs over the market. Also because the company has still not found a replacement for Laxman Narasimhan, who abruptly resigned last year. He then resigned to become boss at Starbucks.