By Matteo Castia 



  Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC reported Tuesday a rise in first-half pretax profit as demand for hygiene and health products boosted revenue during the coronavirus pandemic, and raised its expectations for the full-year. 


  The consumer-goods company--which owns brands such as Durex condoms and Cillit Bang cleaning products among others--made a pretax profit of 1.44 billion pounds ($1.85 billion) for the six months, compared with GBP1.26 billion a year earlier. 


  Net revenue rose to GBP6.91 billion from GBP6.24 billion the previous year, up 12% on a like-for-like basis. 


  The board declared an interim dividend of 73 pence, unchanged year-on-year. 


  Reckitt Benckiser said it now forecasts high single-digit growth in net revenue for the full-year, and that it expects a 5% to 6% hit from the pandemic on 2021 net revenue. 


  "After a strong first half, we now expect our net revenue, margin and earnings performance to be better than our expectations in February and April, notwithstanding a cautious outlook for the balance of 2020 and an uncertain macro-economic environment," the company said. 


  Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com