On Thursday, Haleon (NYSE: HLN) missed third-quarter revenue and profit expectations, partly hurt by a stronger pound and lower sales of its painkiller Panadol in Australia and the Middle East.
The company, spun off from British drugmaker GSK in 2022, kept its annual revenue and profit forecasts unchanged, citing strength in its “power brands” led by Sensodyne toothpaste and anti-inflammatory drug Advil.
Panadol use is down after elevated demand last year due to COVID-19 and normal flu, Haleon CFO Tobias Hestler told Reuters, adding that the company underestimated the effect of those trends normalizing this year.
There were also shipping delays caused by the Middle East conflict and a big retail customer destocking in Australia, Hestler noted.
Haleon (NYSE: HLN) shares were down 1.33% at $9.67 in premarket trading.
Haleon reported an unexpected drop in revenue to 2.78 billion pounds ($3.61 billion) for the three months ended September 30 from 2.80 billion a year earlier.
Analysts expected 2.83 billion pounds in revenue, a company-compiled consensus showed.
Organic revenue grew 6.1% versus 5% a year earlier.
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell by 7.2% to 639 million pounds and missed the 675 million expected by analysts.
The British consumer healthcare firm also reported more balanced growth in sales and prices this quarter, a trend also seen at consumer firms Unilever and Danone.
“We’re back to a balance of price and volume. That’s what we want to have longer term,” Hestler said, further adding that the company has moderated its price increases.
Consumer companies are slowing down price hikes and investing in innovation to win back shoppers who had turned to cheaper brands during a surge in inflation.
($1 = 0.7711 pounds)
(Source: Reuters)
