Reckitt Benckiser today achieved record sales growth in the first quarter and predicted a stronger than expected performance in 2020.
This comes as customers stocked up on Lysol disinfectants, Mucinex cough syrup and Dettol soap ahead of the coronavirus lockdowns.
The boom in demand has come as the company had been battling intense competition in the health and hygiene industry.
In February, Reckitt had announced plans to spend €2 billion over the next three years to spur growth.
Reckitt's sales increase was also bigger than at Dove soap maker Unilever and Dawn detergent producer Procter & Gamble, which also are getting a boost from people buying more soap during the crisis.
"We have seen strong consumer demand, particularly in March and April but the split between defensive buying and higher levels of underlying consumption is unclear," chief executive Laxman Narasimhan said.
"At this stage, it is uncertain how quickly this will change in the months ahead," he said. Narasimhan said demand could ease over the next few months as consumers work through soap and disinfectant stock in their cupboards.
The company's shares, up 5% so far this year, rose 3.2% in early trading.
Reckitt said its 2020 performance would be better than its forecast, which called for steady progress towards mid-single-digit sales growth and adjusted operating margin declines of about 350 basis points.
First-quarter like-for-like sales rose 13.3%, easily beating analysts' estimates of 5.3% provided by the company.
The growth marked the strongest sales increase since the company was formed in 1999 through the merger of Reckitt & Colman and Dutch firm Benckiser.
Like-for-like sales in Reckitt's hygiene business that sells Lysol disinfectants and Finish dishwashing pods rose 12.8%, while they rose 13.6% % in its Health business that sells Mucinex cough syrups and Dettol handwash.
Last week, Reckitt warned people against using disinfectants to treat the coronavirus, after US President Donald Trump suggested researchers try putting disinfectants into patients' bodies.
CEO Narasimhan's three-year, £2 billion investment plan, unveiled in February, includes cutting costs and focusing more on Greater China with the aim to return Reckitt to mid-single digit sales growth.
The company said today that the plan was underway, but some investments would be pushed back to start later in the year.
Investments are being diverted to making more hygiene and cleaning supplies and buying equipment and raw material, to help increase production, which in some cases is already up 50%.
In May, for example, the company will produce all the sanitiser it made in 2019, Narasimhan said.
Reckitt's net revenue rose 12.3% to £3.54 billion in the three months ended March, beating analysts' average estimate of £3.29 billion.
