Reckitt reported a smaller than expected fall in third-quarter underlying sales, helped by more shoppers buying its health products, which include Nurofen painkillers and Strepsils lozenges.
Shares in the consumer goods group rose more than 3% in morning trading, with signs of improving volumes welcomed by investors after a difficult year.
Reckitt said in July it was considering options for the nutrition business and that it would offload a portfolio of homecare brands by the end of 2025, planning to refocus on healthcare and hygiene.
"We're reviewing the organisation," CEO Kris Licht told journalists on a call. "Surely that will result in changes to staffing levels and certain organisation structures will change."
Reckitt, which also owns the Dettol and Lysol cleaning brands, said it was on track to meet full-year targets.
Quarterly Highlights
Its quarterly like-for-like net sales fell 0.5%, ahead of the 1.7% decline analysts had expected in a company-supplied poll.
Price/mix, a metric that reflects how much Reckitt sold its products for, rose 0.9% while volumes declined 1.4%, weakened by Reckitt's nutrition business. Analysts expected the price/mix to rise by 1.4% and volumes to fall by 3.1%.
A roughly 14% sales volume decline in Reckitt's nutrition business was driven by 'the combination of lapping high market shares experienced during the US competitor supply shortage and the impact from the Mount Vernon tornado, which destroyed both finished goods and raw materials and impacted short-term supply to customers in the third quarter,' the company said.
The unit earlier in the year suffered supply disruptions after a tornado damaged a third-party US warehouse.
'Given recent operational volatility at Reckitt, and the mixed performances elsewhere this results season, we think this is good enough. The focus near term is likely to remain strategic transformation and litigation,' Barclays said in a note.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
