Haleon Stock Slides Following Q3 Update

Shares of Haleon (LON: HLN), the consumer healthcare giant spun off from GSK, declined Thursday, currently down more than 2% following the release of its Q3 trading update.

While the company reported solid organic revenue growth, investors seemed unimpressed, likely due to concerns about the impact of foreign exchange fluctuations.

The company's revenue declined by 0.6% on a reported basis, which includes the impact of foreign exchange rates. For the nine months to September 30, organic revenue growth on a reported basis fell by 0.7%.

Haleon reported a 6.1% increase in organic revenue for the quarter, driven by price increases and volume growth. Key brands like Sensodyne, parodontax, Advil, and Theraflu continued to drive growth.

Organic operating profit grew by 7.4%, supported by improved gross margins and cost efficiencies. The company returned over £1 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.

Haleon reiterated its full-year guidance for 4-6% organic revenue growth and high-single-digit organic operating profit growth.

Despite the share price decline, the FTSE 100 company remains a strong player in the consumer healthcare market with a solid portfolio of brands and a focus on innovation.

Brian McNamara, Haleon's Chief Executive Officer, said: “Third quarter trading was strong with momentum across the business underpinned by the strength of our brand portfolio driving market share gains.”

He added: “Having achieved organic revenue and organic profit growth of 4.4% and 9.7% respectively year-to-date, we are well on track to deliver our full-year 2024 guidance.”

Haleon shares are down 2% Thursday, trading at around the 365.7p per share mark, their lowest level since early August.