Reckitt

Reckitt mastered corporate autophagy in 2024-2025, executing what most consumer goods companies talk about but rarely deliver: selective self-digestion to fund growth. The company shed its Essential Home business while redirecting £14.2 billion in revenue toward high-margin Powerbrands like Dettol, Lysol, and Durex. Operating margins jumped 140 basis points to 24.5%, not through revenue growth but through deliberate shrinkage. This is biological discipline: sacrifice peripheral tissue to preserve vital organs.

The Fuel for Growth program demonstrates apical dominance at scale. Fixed costs dropped 190 basis points to 20% of revenue in H1 2025, with a target of 19% by 2027. Management layers disappeared, operating models simplified, and GenAI rolled into R&D—all resources flowing to the growing tips. Reckitt wrote down inventory by £6-12 billion annually (10-15% of stock) because perfect efficiency would cost more than the waste. This mirrors how organisms accept basal metabolic costs to maintain adaptive capacity. The company returned £1.3 billion to shareholders in 2024 while simultaneously investing in brand strength, proving resource reallocation beats hoarding.

What separates Reckitt from competitors is execution speed on portfolio pruning. Most consumer goods giants announce restructuring, delay implementation, then abandon targets when markets improve. Reckitt announced Essential Home separation in 2024 and executed exit in 2025. The new operating structure delivered immediate results: 4.2% like-for-like growth in Core Reckitt during H1 2025, up from anemic 1.4% group-wide growth in 2024. Brands either earn their place through margin contribution or get digested. This is natural selection applied to product portfolios—and the speed of elimination determines competitive fitness.