Reckitt rocked by sales row

A CONSUMER boycott in Korea due to a scandal over humidifier sanitisers hit sales and profits at consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser.

The Dettol-to-Durex group booked £300million of exceptional charges to deal with the fallout from deaths and illness linked to the product sold by its Korean Oxy business from 2001 to 2011.

Reckit’s half-year operating profit fell 19 per cent to £762million and its second-quarter like-for-like sales growth came in below expectations at 4 per cent.

Shares fell 116p to 7322p.