Annual sales miss forecasts at Haleon, shares slip

(Sharecast News) - Consumer healthcare giant Haleon posted weaker-than-expected annual sales on Wednesday, hit by a less severe cold and 'flu season and ongoing softness in the US. The owner of Panadol, Centrum and Sensodyne, among others, saw organic revenues rise 3% in the year to 31 December, to £11.03bn. Analysts had been looking for a rise of around 3.5%.

Haleon blamed a weak cold and 'flu season alongside poor consumer confidence in the US.

Organic revenues rose by 4.7% in EMEA and Latin America, and by 5.2% in Asia Pacific. But they fell by 0.4% in North America.

As at 0830 GMT, the stock had lost 4% at 388.60p.

However, the organic operating profits rose by more than expected, up 10.5% at £2.53bn. Previously-downgraded guidance had been for high single digit growth.

Brian McNamara, chief executive, said: "2025 was an important year for Haleon. Our brands again proved their resilience and we continued to outperform the market.

"Looking ahead, we remain confident in our medium-term guidance, underpinned by the implementation of our new operating model to drive growth and agility. While the consumer environment remains challenging near-term, we are even more focused on driving category growth and increasing our market outperformance."

The blue chip, which was spun out of GSK in 2022, is targeting organic revenue growth of between 3% and 5% in the current year and high single digit adjusted operating profit growth, on a constant currency basis.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of the better-than-expect profit growth: "Price discipline and a focus on continued efficiency gains did much of the heavy lifting, and management should be applauded for not chasing sales growth at any cost."