Reckitt Benckiser, the household goods group behind Finish dishwasher tablets and Harpic bleach, handed shareholders an interim dividend of nearly £180 million today after lifting profit targets for the year.

The group smashed City expectations for the second quarter to June 30 with a 33 per cent rise in net income as a marketing blitz fuelled strong sales of its cleaning, fabric and home care brands.

Shares in the group rose 2 per cent or 47p to £27.95 in early trading. They were trading at just above £20.50 one year ago.

Bart Becht, the chief executive, said: “Reckitt Benckiser has had a very good first half with like-for-like growth of 10 per cent. Growth has come across all geographies and categories.”

He said that the momentum building across the business meant that it was on course to beat his goal of mid-teen percentage growth in net income for 2007 as a whole.

Net revenue is expected to be stronger than the forecast 8 per cent growth at constant exchange rates. “We will update the market on the full-year targets in October,” Mr Becht added.

Figures today showed net income in the second quarter came in at £216 million, up 33 per cent, on net revenue of £1.3 billion The result meant net income for the first six months of the year rose 30 per cent to £395 million.

Shareholders will pocket an interim dividend of 22p per share, up 25 per cent.

The group announced plans to free up distributable reserves of nearly £20 billion by forming a new company structure, but insisted thjat this did not signal any change to the pace of dividend growth or share buybacks over the coming years. It spent £100 million on buybacks in the second quarter.

Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: "Reckitt appears to be able to do no wrong."

Much of Reckitt’s growth in the first half has come from a wave of new products, backed by increased marketing spend behind Nurofen and Strepsils, two of the leading brands picked up in the £1.9 billion acquisition of Boots Healthcare International two years ago. Strong sales of Airwick Freshmatic fuelled an 18 per cent jump in net revenues of Home Care products in the first half, while the relaunch of the Cillit Bang range pushed sales of Surface Care products up 8 per cent.

Reckitt said that new launches should continue to power sales over the rest of the year, including Nurofen Express, which it claims will deliver pain relief “twice as fast” as standard products on the market.

The group also plans to launch a new version of its Vanish stain remover that is designed to stop colours running on to other clothes during a wash.

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