The boss of Reckitt Benckiser has said he expects that Covid-19 will permanently increase sales of disinfectant Dettol and other cleaning products.
Chief executive Laxman Narasimhan said he anticipated that consumers will incorporate new routines if they keep them up for around two months.
“We have gone back in time and looked at what we have seen when there have been other outbreaks, like Sars and Mers.
"And what you see is that there is a step up in consumption – a step up in both penetration, which is sustained, and then frequency of use,” he said on a call with reporters on Tuesday morning.
“It won’t be at the peak levels that you might see today. But if you compare it to pre-Covid times, we expect that the levels will be higher.”
His comments came as the company said 2020 will be better than it had forecast in April as Dettol sales soared.
The consumer goods giant said that sales in its health business, which includes Dettol, increased by 9.3 per cent in the first half of the financial year. This was despite a dip in sales for Durex due to what Mr Narasimhan called “lower social interactions”.
Online sales jumped by 60 per cent and now make up 12 per cent of the company’s revenue.
Mr Narasimhan said: “The first six months of 2020 have been underpinned by resilience, agility and strong execution. I’m incredibly proud of the effort of our people, who have worked tirelessly, while staying safe, with focus and dedication in an environment that’s been changing daily.
“We have the largest portfolio of surface disinfectant brands, including Dettol, Lysol and Sagrotan. Our largest brands are trusted by our consumers, as is evident in their performance.”
He added: “Our hygiene and base health businesses have both performed well, with strong volume growth in challenging circumstances.”
