LONDON — Reckitt Benckiser (RB) Group, the maker of Durex condoms and Nurofen painkillers, reported fourth-quarter sales growth that beat analyst estimates as retailers stocked up on cold remedies during a slow flu season.Revenue advanced 7% on a like-for-like basis, beating the 4.4% median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company also announced estimate-beating full-year profit and forecast further growth this year, sending the shares up the most in more than two years."These were great results," James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets."If investors are looking for places to hide from the current market volatility they could do worse than RB."Fourth-quarter growth had been led by the consumer-health division, even as fewer people came down with flu, the company said. While there was less demand from consumers for remedies such as Strepsils lozenges, sales of such products to retailers were strong, it said. Reckitt Benckiser expects the increase in sto...
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