Durex announces a price increase of around 30 percent.picture: assembly watson
The war in the Middle East is putting pressure on Durex’s parent company. She announces that she will pass on the increased raw material prices to her customers.
April 23, 2026, 6:09 p.mApril 23, 2026, 6:09 p.m
The British hygiene and health group Reckitt Benckiser, which owns brands such as Durex, Harpic and Nurofen, warned on Wednesday, April 22, 2026: The sharp rise in oil prices in the wake of the Middle East war could cost the company up to 150 million pounds (around 158 million francs).
“A scenario with an oil price of $110 per barrel for the remainder of 2026 would mean a gross impact of around £130 to 150 million on our annual production costs,” warns Reckitt Benckiser in a statement.
translation
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These forecasts were released just hours after the statements to Bloomberg. There, the boss of Karex, a Malaysian condom giant and supplier to Durex, announced price increases of almost 30 percent. The reason is disrupted supply chains and rising costs as a result of the conflict. Goh Miah Kiat, CEO of Karex, speaks of an unusual development:
“This is clearly one of the largest price adjustments we have made in a very long time.”
Reckitt Benckiser considers the effects of the war to be “manageable”. But “if raw material prices remain at a very high level throughout the year,” this will inevitably have an impact on household budgets – and thus also on demand, it goes on to say.
Reckitt Benckiser reported on Wednesday a decline in sales of almost 12 percent in the first quarter. One reason for this is, among other things, accounting effects from the sale of the cleaning products division last year, which included brands such as Air Wick, Calgon and Cillit Bang.
For its part, Durex suffered from “the introduction of VAT on condoms in China at the beginning of the quarter,” which dampened demand, the group explains. An unusually low incidence of colds and flu in the winter also weighed on sales. As a result, the company’s over-the-counter medications sold worse than usual.
«The energy shock triggered by the events in the Middle East is likely to weigh on consumer demand and at the same time increase costs. “This jeopardizes the progress the group has made in recent years in tightening financial controls,” says Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell. Reckitt Benckiser shares lost around 5 percent on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. (afp/hun)