Activist investor Eminence builds stake in Reckitt, FT reports

(Reuters) - Activist investor Eminence Capital has bought more stake in Reckitt Benckiser, owning at least 0.5% of the consumer goods group's stock after it began buying up shares in March, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Eminence believed Reckitt's management could do more to improve operating margins, the report said, adding that other activist investors were also looking into Reckitt.

Eminence Capital is yet to meet Reckitt's board and management in person, but has corresponded with the company and is unlikely to push for a management shake-up, the report said.

Reckitt and Eminence did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comments.

The development comes at a time when the consumer goods group is seeking to overturn a $60 million verdict in a lawsuit related to its Enfamil baby formula in the United States.

The London-listed shares of the company are down 16% since the start of the year.

Reckitt said in its first quarter earnings report that it faces "contingent liabilities" - a term used for those dependent on future events - from a product liability suit filed against its Mead Johnson infant formula business in the United States.

(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Eileen Soreng)