Rakesh Kapoor: Reckitt Benckiser's stock has almost doubled in value under his leadership.British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer Rakesh Kapoor would retire by end of 2019 after more than eight years at helm and more than three decades with company.
The maker of Durex condoms and Enfamil infant formula said it had started a formal process to appoint Mr Kapoor's successor and was looking at internal and external candidates.Mr Kapoor, who took over as CEO in September 2011, had a long-stated plan to transform Reckitt from a British maker of household cleaning products into a global leader in consumer healthcare.In 2017, company spent $17 billion buying US baby formula maker Mead Johnson.
The deal took Reckitt into a new area of baby formula and dramatically boosted its presence in fast-growing markets such as China." I believe now is a good time for new leadership to take this great company through next phase of outperformance.
I will remain fully focused on driving business until a successor is in place," Mr Kapoor said on Wednesday.Last year, company started to gather momentum after two years of disappointing results caused by a failed product launch, a cyber attack and a safety scandal in South Korea.However, a manufacturing glitch at a Dutch factory producing baby milk hurt Reckitt Benckiser's third-quarter sales in October."Mr Kapoor's departure could signal start of plans to formally split businesses into two separate entities.
This could make either or both of two businesses more attractive to prospective third parties," Liberum analyst Robert Waldschmidt said.Reckitt said in 2017 it would split into two divisions -- consumer healthcare and home and hygiene products.Mr Waldschmidt, who has a "buy" rating on Reckitt, also said Wednesday's announcement would bring new interest to shares.Reckitt shares dipped 1.5 per cent and were among top fallers on blue-chip index in early trade.The stock has almost doubled in value under Mr Kapoor's leadership, giving it a market value of 44.3 billion pounds ($57.1 billion).Mr Kapoor did not respond to a request for further comment on professional networking site LinkedIn.Based in English town of Slough, Reckitt's revenue grew from 9.49 billion pounds in 2011 to 11.51 billion pounds for year ended December 2017.