LONDON (Reuters) - Reckitt, the maker of Dettol cleaning products and Strepsils throat lozenges, missed expectations for fourth-quarter like-for-like net sales, posting on Thursday a 4.6% rise.

The company, for which analysts had forecast growth of 5.3% for the quarter, said it expects full-year like-for-like net sales growth of 2-4%.

Reckitt, whose other products include Nurofen tablets, cold remedy Lemsip and Durex condoms, said sales from its hygiene business rose 5.5%, beating analysts' estimates of 4.1% growth from a company-supplied poll.

However, fewer people bought Reckitt's seasonal cold products during the quarter, and sales in the company's health unit rose only 2.4%. Analysts had expected growth of 6.9%.

For the full year ended December, Reckitt's operating profit rose 3% to 3.48 billion pounds ($4.49 billion).

($1 = 0.7753 pounds)