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Investing.com -- Reckitt shares soared nearly 10% Thursday after the U.K. consumer goods company raised its full-year revenue outlook after second-quarter sales came in ahead of expectations, boosted by strong performance in emerging markets that helped offset weaker demand in North America and Europe.
The maker of Lysol and Dettol reported 1.9% like-for-like net revenue growth for the quarter, slightly above the 1.7% expected by analysts.
Sales in China, India and Latin America were particularly strong, making up for softer trends in developed markets.
North America and Europe underperformed, weighed down by subdued consumer sentiment and a planned reformulation-related shelf reset of its Mucinex cold and flu brand.
“We delivered excellent growth in emerging markets and navigated a challenging consumer environment in our developed markets,” CEO Kris Licht said.
The stock was up 9.7% at 5,528p as of 07:55 GMT, hitting their highest level since early 2024 and was on track for their biggest single-day gain in over two decades.
Operating profit for the first half of the year reached £1.71 billion ($2.32 billion), beating consensus estimates of £1.66 billion.
Reckitt now expects core like-for-like revenue growth above 4% in 2025, up from its previous 3% to 4% guidance.
For the overall group, it sees like-for-like revenue rising between 3% and 4%, slightly narrowing the prior forecast of 2% to 4%.
"This is a quality print we think," Jefferies analyst David Hayes said in a note.
"The group beat on organic sales in Q2 is led by the Core operation (which is the focus). Emerging market momentum is now well established, with good growth even in tougher markets for many peers (China and LatAm)," he added.
The board declared an interim dividend of 84.4 pence per share, compared with 80.4 pence a year earlier, and announced a £1 billion share buyback over the next 12 months.