Reckitt Benckiser caps 2020 with record sales, to sell Scholl By Reuters

(Reuters) – British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser on Wednesday capped 2020 with the strongest sales in its history, as the COVID-19 pandemic made hygiene a top priority and fuelled demand for its cleaning products.

The company reported an 11.8% rise in like-for-like sales growth for the full year, its largest increase since being formed in 1999, but marginally lower than the 11.9% growth analysts had expected, according to a company-supplied consensus.

Reckitt Benckiser separately said it would sell its Scholl foot products business to private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners and acquire the Biofreeze brand from Performance Health. Terms of both transactions were not disclosed.