Reckitt Benckiser names Kris Licht as new chief executive

Reckitt Benckiser has named the head of its health division as the next chief executive of the UK household products group.

Kris Licht is to succeed Nicandro Durante, who has run the company on an interim basis since Laxman Narasimhan left last September to become chief executive of US coffee chain Starbucks.

Licht, a former PepsiCo executive and McKinsey partner, will become
chief executive designate in May and take over permanently by the end of the year.

Reckitt also said on Wednesday that it produced net revenues of £3.92bn in the first quarter, a rise of 7.9 per cent from the same period a year ago on a like-for-like basis.