Latest news with #MeadJohnson
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Reckitt lifts revenue outlook on strong Asia growth, shares surge
July 24 (Reuters) - Consumer goods company Reckitt (RKT.L), opens new tab raised its annual revenue forecast on Thursday after second-quarter net sales growth topped expectations, sending shares soaring, as strength in China and India offset weakness in North America and Europe. Shares jumped as much as 11% to their highest level since early 2024 and were among the biggest gainers on the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab. Reckitt, the maker of Durex condoms and Lysol cleaning products, is pivoting to focus on its 11 so-called "power brands" under CEO Kris Licht, as the sector is faced with weak demand and fierce competition. The company reported like-for-like quarterly net revenue growth of 1.9%, above the 1.7% forecast in a company-compiled consensus. It also announced a new 1 billion pounds share buyback over the next 12 months. Growth in North America and Europe lagged expectations, hit by a challenging consumer environment and the expected shelf reset of its flu medicine Mucinex due to reformulation. Licht said there was some stabilisation in those regions in the second quarter, but consumption remained "suppressed". "Even though consumption is a bit lower in our categories, we're still seeing some growth, and people are still spending. It's just much more measured," he said, referring to North America and Europe. But strong sales in China, India and good growth in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Malaysia made up for weakness in developed markets. Chinese consumers were responding well to new innovation behind the Dettol brand, Licht said. Reckitt raised the like-for-like 2025 net revenue growth forecast for its core business to above 4%, from a 3% to 4% range previously. "A beat and raise is a rare occurrence in this market," said analysts at JPMorgan in a note. Reckitt now expects overall group like-for-like net revenue growth of 3% to 4% for the year, up from the previous 2% to 4%. The share price was last up 9%, heading for its biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008. Last week, Reckitt sold a majority stake in its Essential Home business to Advent for $4.8 billion. It is also exploring options for its Mead Johnson unit, which faces several baby formula lawsuits in the U.S. The U.S. litigation may have some impact on timing of the eventual exit of Mead Johnson, Licht said. Essential Home and Mead Johnson, which are considered non-core, underperformed during the quarter. Reckitt posted operating profit of 1.71 billion pounds ($2.32 billion) for the six months ended June 30, beating analysts' average expectations of 1.66 billion pounds. Some investors worry Reckitt is more exposed than rivals to U.S. tariffs due to lower U.S. manufacturing capacity compared to Haleon (HLN.L), opens new tab and Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab. Once its new factory in the U.S. state of North Carolina becomes operational in 2027, the share of local U.S. sales could rise to 75% from 57%, Reckitt has previously said. Licht said he is considering further U.S. investments to "increase capacity and support innovation." ($1 = 0.7368 pounds)
CNA
18-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Reckitt sells Essential Home stake to Advent for $4.8 billion
Reckitt has sold a majority stake in its Essential Home business to private equity firm Advent International in a deal valued at $4.8 billion including debt, it said on Friday. The consumer goods group said it would retain a 30 per cent stake in the business, which makes Air Wick fresheners, Cillit Bang cleaners and insecticide Mortein. Reuters exclusively reported last month that the two parties were in talks over a sale, with Reckitt likely to retain a minority stake. Reckitt CEO Kris Licht has been trying to turn around the business and ease shareholder concerns over the strength of its brands in North America and Europe, where consumer confidence has been weak. Reckitt said it plans to return excess capital to shareholders, including a special dividend of about $2.2 billion and a share consolidation, after the deal closes. Reckitt shares were up about 1.2 per cent in early trade. Essential Home accounted for about 13 per cent of group revenue in the first quarter but has struggled for several quarters, with sales down 7 per cent year on year in the first three months of the year. The value of the transaction includes up to $1.3 billion in performance-based and delayed payments tied to how the business performs and other financial conditions, it said, adding that the deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Reckitt, brands of which include Dettol handwash and Durex condoms, has also been considering options for its litigation-hit baby formula business, Mead Johnson.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Some Zeeland neighbors want to block Mead Johnson expansion
ZEELAND, Mich. (WOOD) — While some property owners have gotten more than $1 million from Mead Johnson for land that the company needs to expand on East Main Street, Margie and Earl Klein aren't selling. Some neighbors say they hope the holdouts will help block the expansion, which they fear will destroy their neighborhood. The Kleins have lived since 1973 in their home about 150 yards west of the baby formula plant — at the heart of the company's controversial expansion plans. They raised two kids there. Her parents lived there in the 1920s. 'We still walk on the hardwood floors that my parents did,' Margie Klein said on Friday. In January, she answered a knock on her door. It was a stranger from Mead Johnson. 'He sat down on our couch and said, 'We want your property.' 'Really?' 'And all of this on both sides of you, and we want everything on Washington Avenue, also,'' she recalled. Mead Johnson, now owned by a United Kingdom-based company, says it needs to modernize. Its $836 million plan calls for an expansion that would mean leveling several homes on the north side of East Main Street, including the Kleins'. The company, which makes Enfamil, released renderings at a meeting this week. The plan requires the city to rezone some of the land from residential to industrial. A hearing is scheduled before the city's Planning Commission Thursday. The company is the third-biggest taxpayer in Zeeland and employs 500 people. 'Mead Johnson Nutrition takes pride in our deep roots in the Zeeland community where we have been producing some of the nation's most trusted baby formula products for more than 100 years,' the company said in a statement released on Friday. 'This investment in modernizing our operations in Zeeland reflects our commitment to sustained job creation and economic growth here in our local community, while also ensuring we maintain industry-leading quality standards and remain a trusted partner in pediatric nutrition.' 'Mead Johnson is important to the community, we want to keep them here,' City Manager Timothy Klunder said. 'We certainly don't want to see a desire where they would have to leave, but we also want then to do it in the right way.' Neighbors have planted signs and launched a website in opposition. Already, the company has bought out most of the Kleins' closest neighbors: One said he sold his home for $600,000 and must be out by July 31. Property records show the company paid $1.5 million for a house and barn a few doors away with an assessed value of less than $300,000. Two properties around the corner went for a combined $3.7 million — about 10 times their assessed value. The Kleins won't say exactly how much Mead Johnson has offered. It's somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million. 'We love our place, but we don't want to sell to Mead Johnson because they are pushy and demanding,' Klein said. Asked if she was holding out for more money, she responded: 'Oh heavens, no.' 'This has nothing to do with the money,' she continued. 'It's the whole principle of the thing. We have lived here for decades. We are so involved in the city of Zeeland, chamber of commerce back in the day. We love this town.' Jonathan Funckes lives on the south side of East Main Street. His home would face the expanded factory. 'I'll be looking at Industrial 2 (zoning),' he said. 'When we bought this, this was all residential.' When Funckes moved in 16 years ago, he said, the neighborhood was mostly rentals, some marred by graffiti. 'We've all in the last dozen years really improved it and brought the neighborhood up and are doing things to improve and make it look better, only to have the city just destroy our property values,' he said. Some neighbors said they fear city leaders have already decided. 'Why would you purchase these (properties) way above tax-assessed values if you didn't have some sort of promise?' Sue VandenBeldt, who lives a few doors away. 'My concern is that the city has sold our neighborhood out. I think my big concern is that we've lost trust in our officials we elected.' As for Jonathan Funckes, 'We're going to be fighting it, but at this point I'm preparing to sell, because I've had enough.' Perhaps, he said, the best hope is the Kleins not selling. 'That's the only saving grace at this point,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Wire
05-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP Files Securities Class Action Against Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (OTC: RBGLY)
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP ('Scott+Scott'), an international shareholder and consumer rights litigation firm, has filed a securities class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC ('Reckitt' or the 'Company') (OTC: RBGLY), and certain of its former and current officers and/or directors (collectively, 'Defendants'). The Class Action asserts claims under §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§78j(b) and 78t(a)) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder (17 C.F.R. §240.10b‑5) on behalf of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Reckitt American Depositary Shares ('ADSs') between January 13, 2021, and July 28, 2024, inclusive (the 'Class Period'), and were damaged thereby (the 'Class'). The Class Action filed by Scott+Scott is captioned: Elevator Constructors Union Local No. 1 Annuity & 401(K) Fund v. Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC, et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-4708. Reckitt is a United Kingdom-based, global consumer goods company. To date, over 500 state and federal products liability lawsuits have been filed against Reckitt and its competitor, Abbott Laboratories ('Abbott'), claiming that they failed to adequately warn that premature infants consuming cow milk-based formulas, such as Reckitt's Enfamil and Abbott's Similac, have an increased risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis ('NEC'), a life-threatening intestinal disease that affects premature or low birth weight infants. The Class Action alleges that, during the Class Period, Defendants made misleading statements and omissions regarding the Company's business, financial condition, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to warn investors and consumers: (1) that preterm infants were at an increased risk of developing NEC by consuming Reckitt's cow's milk-based formula, Enfamil; (2) of the attendant impact on Reckitt's sales of Enfamil and Reckitt's exposure to legal claims; and (3) as a result of the above, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. The market began to learn the truth on March 15, 2024, when, in the case captioned Watson vs. Mead Johnson Co., Case No. 21-L-1032 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Oct. 28, 2021), a jury in St. Clair County, Illinois, returned a $60 million verdict in the first NEC lawsuit to be tried to a verdict. The jury found that Mead Johnson was negligent and failed to warn the decedent's mother of the increased risk her preterm infant could develop NEC by consuming cow's milk-based formula. On this news, the price of the Company's ADSs fell $1.87, or nearly 14%, from a closing price of $13.31 per share on March 14, 2024, to a closing price of $11.44 per share on March 15, 2024. Then, on July 29, 2024, the market continued to learn the truth when, in the case captioned Gill v. Abbot Laboratories, Inc., Case No. 2322-CC1251 (Mo. Circ. Ct. Jun. 23, 2023), a jury in St. Louis, Missouri, concluded that Abbott's specialized formula for premature babies led to a baby developing NEC and awarded the plaintiff $495 million. On this news, the price of the Company's ADSs fell $1.02, or nearly 9%, from a closing price of $11.66 per share on July 28, 2024, to a closing price of $10.64 per share on July 29, 2024. LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE ON AUGUST 4, 2025 If you purchased Reckitt ADSs during the Class Period and were damaged thereby, you are a member of the 'Class' and may be able to seek appointment as lead plaintiff. If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff, a motion on your behalf must be filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York no later than August 4, 2025. The lead plaintiff is a court-appointed representative for absent class members of the Class. You do not need to seek appointment as lead plaintiff to share in any Class recovery in the Class Action. If you are a Class member and there is a recovery for the Class, you can share in that recovery as an absent Class member. If you wish to apply to be lead plaintiff, please contact attorney Nicholas Bruno at (888) 398-9312 or at nbruno@ What Can You Do? You may contact an attorney to discuss your rights regarding the appointment of lead plaintiff or your interest in the Class Action. You may retain counsel of your choice to represent you in the Class Action. About Scott+Scott Scott+Scott is an international law firm known for its expertise in representing corporate clients, institutional investors, businesses, and individuals harmed by anticompetitive conduct or other forms of wrongdoing, including securities law and shareholder violations. With more than 100 attorneys in eight offices in the United States, as well as three offices in Europe, our advocacy has resulted in significant monetary settlements on behalf of our clients, along with other forms of relief. Our highly experienced attorneys have been recognized for being among the top financial lawyers in 2024 by Lawdragon, WWL: Commercial Litigation 2024, and Legal 500 in Antitrust Civil Litigation, and have received top Chambers 2024 rankings. In addition, we have been repeatedly recognized by the American Antitrust Institute for the successful litigation of high-stakes anticompetitive claims in the United States. To learn more about Scott+Scott, our attorneys, or complex case resolution, please visit This may be considered Attorney Advertising.
Reuters
04-06-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Thousands of lawsuits over baby formula should stay where filed, court says
CHICAGO, June 4 (Reuters) - An Illinois appeals court said on Tuesday that thousands of lawsuits claiming baby formula made by Abbott Laboratories and a Reckitt Benckiser subsidiary causes a dangerous disease in preterm infants should stay in the court where they were filed, a venue considered plaintiff friendly. The Appellate Court of Illinois' 5th District upheld, opens new tab a lower court's ruling rejecting Abbott and Mead Johnson's motions to transfer the lawsuits out of Madison County, Illinois. The decision allows the claims to move forward in what is often viewed as a plaintiff-friendly county court. Madison County is often flagged by tort reform groups as a jurisdiction known for outsize jury verdicts against corporate defendants. The appellate court, however, reversed the lower court's ruling denying the companies' separate motion to transfer or dismiss the lawsuits based on their argument that the cases were filed in an inconvenient location. The appeals court sent that ruling back to the lower court for reconsideration. A representative for Mead Johnson said in a statement that the company will continue to pursue dismissal of the cases in Madison County, many of which don't involve Mead Johnson products or injuries that occurred in the county. The representative said that plaintiffs' lawyers were trying to "coerce settlement by building a large inventory of claims, even when plaintiffs' lawyers have no intention of ever trying them,' the company said. A spokesperson for Abbott Laboratories did not respond to a request for comment. Tor Hoerman, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs said in a statement that the ruling "reinforces the importance of corporate accountability and helps ensure that families impacted by these tragic injuries can seek justice in the appropriate forum." All of the lawsuits allege that the companies failed to warn that their specialized formulas used by newborn intensive care units in hospitals could cause necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease that almost exclusively affects premature infants and has an estimated mortality rate of more than 20%. The companies have denied the claims, saying that while breast milk protects against NEC, formula does not cause it, and that the benefits of breast milk have long been known to clinicians. In addition to state court cases in Illinois, Missouri and Pennsylvania, a federal multidistrict litigation with more than 700 cases over the claims is moving forward in Chicago, according to court records. The same Illinois appeals court is also considering a similar dispute over transferring more cases over the preterm formula that are currently pending in St. Clair County, Illinois, another court targeted by tort reformers for being plaintiff-friendly. In 2024, a jury in St. Clair County ordered Mead Johnson to pay $60 million to the mother of a premature baby who died after being fed the company's Enfamil baby formula. A few months later, a St. Louis, Missouri, jury ordered Abbott to pay $495 million in damages in another case. Both companies prevailed in the most recent trial, in October. However, the judge in that case in March ordered a new trial, finding that lawyers for the defendants had acted improperly. The case is Jupiter v. Mead Johnson and Co LLC, Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District, No. 230248. For the plaintiffs: Ashley Keller and Benjamin Whiting of Keller Postman; Tor Hoerman of TorHoerman Law; and David Cates of Cates Law Firm For Abbott Laboratories: Linda Coberly and Stephen D'Amore of Winston & Strawn; Thomas Kilbride and Adam Vaught of Kilbride & Vaught; and W. Jason Rankin and Emilee Bramstedt of HeplerBroom For Mead Johnson: Joel Bertocchi of Akerman; Anthony Anscombe and Darlene Alt of Steptoe & Johnson; and Donald Flack of Bartholomew, Shevlin & Flack
