Higher costs cut Reckitt Benckiser’s profit marginally

Business Report :
Reckitt Benckiser’s profit fell 3.4 per cent year-on-year to Tk 142 million in the second quarter through June this year owing to higher operating expenses.
Its earnings per share stood at Tk 30.12 in the quarter, slightly down from Tk 31.11 in the same quarter the year before, according to un-audited financial statements published on Thursday.
The UK-based multinational firm that sells health and hygiene-related products, however, saw sales grow almost 3 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1.35 billion in April-June. But higher costs of sales and increased net operating expenses eroded the bottom-line growth.
The cost of sales was up 3 per cent year-on-year to Tk 694 million in the April-June quarter this year, while net operating costs rose 13 per cent to Tk 458 million.
Its half-yearly profit also fell slightly by 1.67 per cent year-on-year to Tk 294 million while sales remained almost the same year-on-year.
The net operating cash flow per share was Tk 18.9 in the negative for January-June this year, as opposed to Tk 84.14 in the same period last year.
“We have disbursed the last four years’ royalty amount worth Tk 756 million to Reckitt Benckiser Heath Ltd, UK in June this year. As a result, net operating cash flow per share went down negative,” said the company in its earnings note.