Haleon reaffirms outlook despite weaker-than-expected Q1 sales

Panadol-owner Haleon reiterated full-year guidance on Wednesday, despite a poor cold and flu season weighing on first quarter sales.

The consumer healthcare giant - which also owns Sensodyne, Centrum and Voltaren, among others - saw revenues edge up 0.1% in the three months to 31 March, or by 2.2% on an organic basis, to £2.86bn. That was slightly below forecasts for organic growth of 2.3%.

Prices rose 2.4% during the quarter, but volumes eased 0.2%, with the impact of the weaker-than-usual cold and flu season estimated at around 130 basis points.

However, in North America, where Haleon has been struggling with softer demand and stiff competition, it returned to organic growth, with sales up 1% at £932m.

The blue chip also saw strong demand for its oral health products, its biggest division, with sales up 8.3% at £932m.

Brian McNamara, chief executive, said: "We delivered a competitive performance in a challenging market, with North America returning to growth and oral health again performing strongly. This was tempered by a weak cold and flu season.

"Looking ahead, while we continue to navigate global geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties, we expect growth to accelerate across the balance of the year and remain on track to deliver our full-year guidance."

Haleon - which was spun out of GSK in 2022 - expects to deliver organic revenue growth of between 3% and 5% in 2026, and high single digit adjusted operating profit growth.

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