London, May 1, 2026, 17:05 BST
Haleon PLC shares were indicated 1.2% higher in London at 343.7p/344.0p after Friday’s close, a modest reset for the Sensodyne maker after investors picked through weak cold-and-flu demand, steady 2026 guidance and a fresh cost warning. The FTSE 100 was down 0.14%.
The timing matters because Haleon has kept a full-year target that needs better growth from here. The company reported first-quarter revenue of £2.86 billion and 2.2% organic revenue growth, a measure that strips out currency swings and deal effects; its 2026 guidance remains 3%-5% organic revenue growth and high-single-digit adjusted operating profit growth at constant currency, meaning without exchange-rate effects.
The soft start was not a surprise, but it was still soft. Haleon said a mild cold-and-flu season cut growth by about 130 basis points, or 1.3 percentage points, while price rose 2.4% and volume/mix fell 0.2%, meaning the amount sold and mix of products bought slightly dragged on growth.
Oral health did the heavy lifting. Haleon said the category grew 8.3% organically, led by Sensodyne and parodontax, while Respiratory Health fell 3.4% after weaker demand for cold and flu products. North America returned to 1.0% organic growth, helped by toothpaste sales, though the pace was still thin.
Chief Executive Brian McNamara called the quarter a “competitive performance in a challenging market” and said Haleon remained on track for its full-year guidance. He also pointed to productivity work that the company says is helping gross margin and investment. Haleon Corporate
But the risk is not abstract. Chief Financial Officer Dawn Allen told analysts Haleon had “started to see surcharges on freight,” Reuters reported, while McNamara said consumer spending in the Middle East, which accounts for about 5% of revenue, was down by a low-double-digit percentage. The same pressures are hitting peers including Procter & Gamble and Reckitt, and Reckitt has also been hurt by soft cold-and-flu demand. Reuters
Chris Beckett, consumer staples analyst at Quilter Cheviot, wrote that Haleon was “only firing on two cylinders” and needed “more than the toothpaste business” to perform. He said Sensodyne remained a strong asset, but other categories were not doing as well as they could. Quilter
Management is leaning on U.S. shelf resets, wider distribution and a U.S. Soccer partnership tied to World Cup campaigns due to take effect from May. It also cited innovation across Sensodyne Clinical Repair, Panadol Dual Action and Centrum as part of the push to lift growth in the rest of the year.
Capital returns remain part of the story. Haleon has allocated £500 million to share buybacks in 2026 and said about 36% had been completed; a separate Friday RNS notice showed 8.88 billion ordinary shares with voting rights after treasury shares, or shares held by the company that do not vote.
Haleon’s present form followed a 2019 Pfizer joint venture and its July 2022 independent listing in London and New York. Its portfolio includes everyday health brands such as Advil, Centrum, Caltrate, Robitussin, Emergen-C, Sensodyne, Panadol, Theraflu and Voltaren.
The next test is whether the rebound is broader than oral health. If the flu-season drag fades and U.S. initiatives land, Haleon has a cleaner route to its guidance; if freight costs climb and categories outside toothpaste keep lagging, the first-quarter gap will look harder to dismiss.
