Reckitt Benckiser sees sales hit as US facility knocked out by tornado

Multinational consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser on Wednesday forecast a short-term hit to sales in the US after a said a key warehouse for its Mead Johnson Nutrition business was put out of action by a tornado on July 9 which caused "significant" damage.

The company on Wednesday said the warehouse in Mount Vernon, Indiana "is an important site for the Mead Johnson business, containing a mix of raw materials and finished products".

"We first gained partial access to the facility on Saturday, 13 July and the warehouse is currently not operational. We have diverted all inbound deliveries to our other warehousing facilities in the US," it said in a statement, adding that all staff at the third-party owned site were safe.

Reckitt said it was working with customers and suppliers to minimise disruption, by leveraging its global supply chain and managing inventory at its other North American Nutrition warehouses and those used by retail partners.

"Additionally, Reckitt holds comprehensive property damage and business interruption insurance, which we currently expect will largely offset the impact on earnings."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com