Reckitt Benckiser Group (LSE:RKT) trimmed its full-year revenue guidance on Tuesday, pointing to manufacturing constraints on its Lysol brand and a slowdown in China's vitamins and supplements category.
The London-listed consumer health and hygiene group, owner of Dettol, Nurofen and Durex, now expects Core Reckitt like-for-like net revenue growth of 3.5% to 4.5% for the full year, down from its previous guidance.
That followed third-quarter Core Reckitt like-for-like net revenue growth of 3.3%, or 3.9% excluding the Russia Hygiene business, with revenue of £2,690m.
Growth was broad-based across Emerging Markets, which rose 8.0% in the quarter (9.8% excluding Russia Hygiene) with all regions in growth, while Europe returned to growth at 0.8% after a run of declines.
North America fell short, with like-for-like net revenue down 1.3%, as temporary manufacturing capacity constraints the company's limited ability to meet strong consumer demand for Lysol even as sell-out growth continued and market share gained ground.
"While consumer demand for Lysol remains strong, temporary manufacturing constraints our limited ability to fully meet demand," said chief executive Kris Licht, adding that growth was "increasingly broad-based" across markets.
Group IFRS net revenue fell 6.9% in the quarter and 7.7% year-to-date, which the company attributed primarily to the prior year's contribution from the divested Essential Home business.
Mead Johnson Nutrition, the group's non-core infant nutrition business, delivered like-for-year net revenue growth of 2.7% in the quarter, driven by premiumisation in Latin America and South East Asia.
Within the revised full-year outlook, Reckitt now expects Emerging Markets to deliver high-single-digit growth and has become more optimistic on seasonal over-the-counter performance than its prior planning assumption, citing positive early demand for its cold and flu brands heading into the fourth quarter.
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The company continues to expect Core Reckitt plus Mead Johnson Nutrition adjusted operating profit margin for the full year in the range of 24.9% to 25.6%, with the second half margin expected to be much stronger than the 23.6% reported in the first half.
Reckitt narrowed its guidance for adjusted net finance expense to between £250m and £270m for the year, down from 2025's £346m, a change it attributed largely to the successful tender of the Mead Johnson bond in the third quarter.
The group's £500m share buyback programme, which began on 5 August, had completed £90m of repurchases as of 23 October.
Reckitt reiterated that it expects to complete the divestment of its Russia Hygiene business, agreed in July with Arnest Management, during the second half of the year.