Reckitt Benckiser on the rack as sales blow piles pressure on boss Kapoor

Reckitt Benckiser was under pressure today after the Durex-to-Dettol maker said it had been hurt by a safety scandal, and revealed lacklustre figures that missed analysts’ estimates.

The consumer goods giant said on a reported basis, first-quarter sales rose 15% to £2.6 billion. However, excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals, sales were flat.

Analysts were expecting like-for-like growth of 1%.

Reckitt Benckiser warned its Africa, Asia and South America division had been “negatively impacted” by a controversy in South Korea, where the former boss of its division there was sentenced in January to seven years in prison over the sale of a toxic product linked to almost 100 deaths.

It also flagged a failed new Scholl product that weighed on the business.

There was better news in its Durex and Mucinex divisions, where there was growth.

Chief executive Rakesh Kapoor, who saw his pay slashed by more than a third to £14.6 million last year, said the “results are in line with expectations as macro conditions remain challenging”. The firm stood by its target for full-year sales growth of 3%.

But the City was unimpressed, and Reckitt Benckiser was one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100. The shares lost 89p to 7186p.

The update comes two months after the firm revealed plans for a $16.6 billion (£13 billion) takeover of US baby formula maker Mead Johnson. It said the deal is due to complete in the third quarter.

Reckitt recently launched a review of its £2 billion foods business, which could see the division behind Frank’s RedHot sauces being sold off to help fund the deal.