Reckitt Benckiser Cleans Up

Reckitt Benckiser, the world’s largest household cleaner company, reported first quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates, and company executives expect the good results to continue throughout the year.

Net income rose to 448 million pounds ($702 million), from 393 million pounds a year earlier, Slough, England-based Reckitt said today in a statement. That was above the 435.6 million-pound average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Bart Becht expects to continue “good growth” this year, with sales excluding its pharmaceutical division to climb by 5 percent, slowing from 6 percent growth in 2009. No generic competition has emerged for its Suboxone heroin drug, Reckitt’s fastest-growing product, after protection ended in October. That helped Reckitt boost sales at its pharmaceutical unit by 66 percent in the quarter.

he maker of Cillit Bang cleaning products is targeting operating profit growth of 10 percent this year, excluding the pharmaceutical unit. The forecasts for sales and profit assume constant exchange rates and excludes the drugs unit due to uncertainty about timing for generic competition for Suboxone.

Reckitt has no update on when a competitor for Suboxone will enter the U.S. market, Becht said on a conference call today. Reckitt has repeatedly said the drug’s profit and revenue will fall as much as 80 percent when competition enters.

Industry consolidation is “very unlikely,” Becht said on the call when asked about speculation of a merger activity with U.S. competitor Colgate-Palmolive Co.