02.12.14
Reckitt-Benckiser posted annual sales for 2013 along with the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013. Annual sales were $13.7 billion (£10.04 million) total for the company, with health sales leaping 27% to $3.6 billion (£2.6 billion), hygiene rising 4% to $5.2 billion (£3.8 billion) and home staying flat at $2.6 billion (£1.9 billion). Portfolio brands fell 28% to $681.5 million (£499 million).
For the fourth quarter, net sales inched up 1% to $3.4 billion (£2.5 billion) in total.
Commenting on the fiscal 2013 results, Chief Executive Officer Rakesh Kapoor said:
“Our strategy for growth and outperformance through driving Health and Hygiene Powerbrands together with our focus on 16 Powermarkets is delivering results. We are pleased with the continued strength of our ENA – Europe and North America performance. And while emerging markets continue to slow, we delivered very strong results in India and China.
We continue to invest in our business to drive sustainable value creation. In 2013, we invested an incremental £100m behind building our brands. We also made substantial investments in building capabilities to compete and win in consumer health and emerging markets.
Market conditions are more challenging now than at the beginning of last year, particularly in some emerging markets. However, we have confidence that our pipeline of innovations, Powerbrand rollouts and brand investments will deliver another year of high quality growth. Accordingly, we are targeting net revenue growth of 4-5% and flat to moderate operating margin expansion. Both targets exclude RBP.”