Announcements

RB Press release - 26/04/2005
Q1 Results 2005

STRONG START TO 2005

Well positioned to achieve full year targets

Results at a Glance		Q1	% change	% change
		£m	actual exch	constant exch
Net Revenues		£986m	+7%	+7%
Operating Profit		£160m	+11%	+10%
Net Income		£124m	+20%	+18%
EPS (fully diluted)		16.6p	+19%

• Net revenues grew by 7% (7% at constant exchange) to £986m.
• Operating profit increased by 11% at actual exchange to £160m. Operating margin rose by 50 basis points (bps) to 16.2% following a gross margin increase of 40 bps to 54.1% and after a substantial increase in marketing, mainly media, investment behind recent product innovations.
• Net income increased 20% to £124m. Earnings per share increased 19% to 16.6 pence with the accretion from the buyback program offset by the year on year impact of the Convertible Bond conversion.
• Strong cash generation saw net funds of £802m, an increase of £170m compared to December 2004. This included £31m of bond conversion and was after share buyback of £41m.
• These results were driven by the success of recent initiatives. Significant contributors included Cillit Bang, Finish 4-in-1 & Power Booster, Airwick Mobil'Air and Freshmatic.

Commenting on these results, Bart Becht, Chief Executive Officer, said

"Reckitt Benckiser started 2005 strongly, with net revenue growth of 7% due to the success of recent product innovations, such as Cillit Bang, Finish 4-in-1 and Airwick Freshmatic. The Company more than offset the significant increase in input costs through volume growth, mix improvement and ongoing cost optimisation, generating strong profit growth.

These results position us well to achieve our full year targets of net revenue growth of 5% to 6% and net income growth of low double digits, both at constant exchange."

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