RB posts 12 pc revenue growth in COVID-impacted 2020 driven by India, China, US

The company witnessed a volume growth of 9.6 per cent in 2020, led by the strong performance of its disinfectant brands driving penetration and market share gains by the health segment, said RB, which owns brands including Dettol, Lysol, Durex, Strepsils and Vanish.

British FMCG major RB Plc on Wednesday said the large contribution from markets like India, where consumption of its hygiene products such as toilet cleaner Harpic jumped over three times in the COVID-impacted 2020, helped it to grow 11.8 per cent to 13.99 billion British Pounds in the year. The company witnessed a volume growth of 9.6 per cent in 2020, led by the strong performance of its disinfectant brands driving penetration and market share gains by the health segment, said RB, which owns brands including Dettol, Lysol, Durex, Strepsils and Vanish. ''All geographic regions have grown, with the largest contributors to growth including the US, India and China,'' said Reckitt Benckiser (RB) in an earning statement. Its leading disinfectant brands have seen exceptionally strong levels of penetration and brands as Dettol and Lysol are used in over 300 million households globally. ''In India alone, Harpic is now used in over 100 million homes, up by nearly 30 million compared to 2019, as a result of purpose-led marketing campaigns centred around behaviour change,'' the company said. Lysol is now estimated to be present in over half of all US homes, while in Canada, its penetration is up over 1200 basis points over the past year, it added. ''Mortein and Harpic also delivered growth in all their major geographies, with Harpic particularly strong in India,'' it said. In 2020, RB's net revenue for the hygiene segment was up 19.5 per cent at 5.81 billion British Pounds, particularly from Lysol and Finish, with broad-based growth in all regions and improved overall market share for the segment, it added. ''Group net revenue of 13.99 billion British Pounds grew by 11.8 per cent on a like for like basis in 2020, driven by strong volume growth (+9.6 per cent) and an increase in price/mix (+2.2 per cent),'' it said. Its popular brands as Dettol and sexual well-being brand Durex helped RB to get its net revenue from the health segment to go up by 12.1 per cent to 4.89 billion British Pounds in 2020 on a like for like basis. ''Consumer demand for disinfectants drove strong demand for Dettol throughout 2020, with the brand growing over 50 per cent. With an increased focus on effective antibacterial agents, Dettol achieved strong market share gains in most major geographic regions for the brand, it said. In addition, a major expansion of the geographic and category reach of the brand was started, leveraging the proven capabilities and heritage of the Dettol portfolio, it added. After having a challenging first half in 2020, relaxations of social distancing regulations resulted in improved demand for our sexual well-being products, led by Durex, in the last six months. ''As a result, the category delivered good growth in revenue for the year as a whole. The positive trend has been particularly pronounced in markets where the rate of pandemic infection has materially improved,'' it said. However, RB's Nutrition portfolio was flat at 3.28 billion British Pounds in 2020. In the year, RB's e-commerce sales grew by a record 56 per cent and now account for around 12 per cent of group net revenue. Commenting on the results, RB CEO Laxman Narasimhan said:'' We have made a strong start to implementing our new strategy and proved that we can adapt and successfully respond to rapidly changing market conditions. Our portfolio is clearly resilient - with or without COVID-19 - and we are building a stronger business for the future.'' In December quarter, the group's net revenue growth was at 10.2 per cent to 3.56 billion British Pounds. Over the outlook for 2021, RB said its LFL (like for like) revenue performance is expected to be ''flat to 2 per cent.'' ''Adjusted operating margin expectation broadly unchanged; in-line with previous guidance, we will continue to invest in growth resulting in margins in 2021 being between 40 - 90 basis points lower than 2020 levels,'' it said.