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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Rakesh Kapoor, chief executive at British consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser, on Monday said India is showing “improvement in consumer sentiment” even as the maker of Dettol antiseptic liquid and Durex condoms reported better-than-expected performance for the quarter ended June.

“The pickup in emerging markets was mixed with an improvement in consumer sentiment in some countries, such as India, but challenging conditions in others, including Brazil andIndonesia,” Kapoor said.

The India-born CEO of Reckitt Benckiser revised the firm’s annual net revenue and profit margin targets after reporting 10% increase in its net profits for the first half ended June when it also achieved 5% like-for-like growth due to better consumer sentiment in most markets.

Analysts said RB India has been leveraging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ’Swachh Bharat’ campaign for its hygiene and anti-germ brands Dettol and Harpic.

India showing improved consumer sentiment: Rakesh Kapoor, CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

Last year, the firm had committed investments of Rs 100 crore on the campaign and it has been developing low-priced products for bottom of the pyramid consumers to drive volumes in both urban and rural markets.

“There is some pickup in the overall cleanliness quotient in the country, which also helps (RB India),” said Abneesh Roy, associate director at financial services firm Edelweiss Securities, linking the firm’s better performance in the country to the Swachh Bharat campaign.