Announcements

RB Press release - 29/01/2009
Excellent Growth In 2008 2009 Targets A Strong Year

Results at a glance (unaudited)	Q4 £m	% change actual exchange	% change constant exchange	FY  £m	% change actual exchange	% change constant exchange
Net Revenue	1,825	+33	+15	6,563	+25	+13
Operating Profit - reported	525	+36	+17	1,505	+22	+9
Operating Profit - adjusted *	525	+35	+16	1,535	+29	+15
Net Income - reported	393	+36	+13	1,120	+19	+6
Net Income - adjusted *	393	+35	+12	1,143	+26	+12
EPS (diluted) - reported	54.6p	+38		154.7p	+21
EPS (diluted) - adjusted *	54.6p	+37		157.8p	+28

* Adjusted results (including % change figures) exclude exceptional items (see page 2).  Reported results for the Full Year (FY) 2008 include an exceptional charge of £30m pre-tax (Q4 2008: £nil) compared to a pre-tax net gain of £43m in FY 2007 (Q4 2007: £4m charge).  Like-for-like (“LFL”) growth describes business performance on a comparable basis, excluding the impact of business acquisitions, disposals and foreign exchange movements.

 FY highlights:

• Total net revenue growth of +13% (constant exchange), of which like-for-like (“LFL”) growth +10% reflects broad-based performance across the Group.
• Gross margin +100bp to 59.3%: adjusted operating margin +80bp to 23.4%.
• Adjusted net income +26% (actual exchange): adjusted diluted EPS of 157.8p (+28%).
• Net debt of £1,096m (2007: £125m) with ongoing strong cash flow generation, offset by the Adams acquisition and a net -£332m adverse foreign exchange impact.
• The Board recommends a +60% increase in the final dividend to 48.0p per share, bringing the total dividend for 2008 to 80.0p (+45% versus 2007).
• The Company is immediately moving to a 50% dividend payout ratio.  It is also currently prioritising further debt repayment over share buybacks.  As a result, the 2009 share buyback is cancelled.

Q4 highlights:

• Total net revenue growth of +15% (constant exchange), of which LFL growth +8% in a record overall quarter for the Group.
• Gross margin +130bp to 61.3%: adjusted operating margin +40bp to 28.8%.
• Adjusted net income +35% (actual exchange): adjusted diluted EPS of 54.6p (+37%).

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

“Reckitt Benckiser had an excellent year in 2008 despite challenging conditions, with like-for-like net revenue growth of +10%.  All regions and all 19 Powerbrands contributed to this growth, supported by significant media investment and successful innovations such as Vanish Intelligence and Finish Max in 1.

Based on the current market outlook, our targets in 2009 are for net revenue growth of +4% (base £6,563m) and net income growth of +8-10% (base £1,143m), both at constant exchange.”

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