Reckitt Benckiser reduced its full year outlook on Tuesday in a third quarter trading update.
The news comes just a day after the British multinational consumer goods company announced the appointment of Jeff Carr as Chief Financial Officer.
Shares in Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) were down during Tuesday morning trading, trading almost 5% lower.
The consumer goods company reduced its full year 2019 like-for-like sales growth target to 0-2% from the previous reduction issued in July.
The owner of Nurofen and Dettol added that it expects full year 2019 adjusted operating margins to experience a “modest” decline.
Laxman Narasimhan, who was named Reckitt Benckiser’s new Chief Executive Officer earlier in June, said the company’s performance in the third quarter was “disappointing”.
“We delivered another quarter of consistent growth in Hygiene Home. Our Health business, despite good market growth and stable consumer offtake, delivered a weak net revenue performance. This was primarily due to issues in the US and China. In the US, we saw more cautious retailer seasonal purchasing patterns. In China, IFCN continues to face challenging market conditions,” the Chief Executive Officer said.
“This performance is a reflection of an extended period of significant change and disruption in the company. I am prioritising execution and operational performance as a matter of urgency. I have made it clear within the organisation that any activities that detract focus and attention from improving our operational performance, be paused,” Laxman Narasimhan continued.
“I have lowered our revenue outlook for the full year 2019 to reflect the combination of a weak Health performance in Q3 and inherent seasonal uncertainty in Q4. We expect a modest margin decline in 2019 as we will continue our investment in the brands and the business to build RB for the long term,” the Chief Executive Officer said.
Shares in Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (LON:RB) were down, trading at -4.50% as of 09:50 BST Tuesday.
