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

Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to buy US baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition for £13bn (€15.25bn), giving the British consumer goods company a new product line and expanding its presence in developing markets.

Demand for Nurofen painkillers and other health brands in emerging markets helped Reckitt Benckiser offset weaker markets elsewhere to post a rise in half-year profits today.

Incoming Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes, the latest Indian-born businessman to head a global multinational, is likely to continue the strategy of his predecessor by focusing on growth in emerging markets, writes John Daly