Reckitt Benckiser has warned it faces a £150 million cost hit from the escalating conflict in the Middle East, as the household goods giant prioritises staff safety over its operations in the region. Chief executive Kris Licht said it was “too early” to specify the impact on supply chains and prices, but confirmed a factory in Bahrain had been closed and all 400 employees in the region were working from home.
Mr Licht told the Press Association: “Our overwhelming focus at the moment is on the safety and well-being of our employees and their families.” The group – whose brands include Strepsils, Nurofen and Dettol – cautioned that a weak cold and flu season globally and challenging trading in Europe would knock its performance at the start of 2026.
Shares in the firm fell 6% as the gloomy outlook overshadowed 2025 results showing pre-tax profits jumped to £3.8 billion, up from £2.1 billion in 2024, driven by a 5% rise in like-for-like sales. Underlying profits rose 5.2% to £3.3 billion on a constant currency basis, but European sales dropped 1.4% amid lower demand for cold and flu treatments and a “challenging consumer environment”.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said the conflict’s impact would be significant. “Investors will take all the assumptions in the outlook with a big pinch of salt, given that prices across the globe are likely to take a big lurch higher thanks to the situation in the Middle East,” he said. Reckitt expects the tougher trading backdrop to continue into 2026.
