Reckitt shares fall as it counts cost of cyber attack last month

Reckitt Benckiser expects muted sales growth this year, after last month’s global cyber attack exacerbated ongoing difficulties at the British consumer goods firm.

The maker of Durex condoms and Lysol disinfectants has been struggling for months with fallout from a collapse of its business in South Korea and a failed Scholl product launch last year. Its shares were down around 3% at one stage, weighing on the FTSE.

But on June 27, it became one of several major companies to be blindsided by the NotPetya virus, which hobbled systems for everything from manufacturing to shipping. It cut its full-year sales forecast earlier this month from growth of 3% to growth of 2%.