LONDON, March 27, 2026, 18:25 GMT
Haleon traded flat on Friday, hovering around 366 pence. The company dropped a brief pre-results aide memoire—essentially a heads-up for analysts—ahead of its Q1 trading update set for April 29.
It’s important here because Haleon is still working to reassure investors after last month’s call for 2026 organic revenue growth at 3% to 5%, missing the company’s medium-term target of 4% to 6%. Organic revenue figures, which ignore currency moves and recent acquisitions, rattled the market—shares dropped as much as 6% after that February guidance.
In a two-page update Friday, Haleon stuck to its 2026 targets: organic revenue up 3% to 5%, and adjusted operating profit climbing at a high-single-digit rate, all calculated at constant currency—so, before taking exchange swings into account. Net interest expense is still penciled in at around 255 million pounds, with the adjusted tax rate holding near 24.5%. Currency translation remains a drag, too: management still sees about a 1% hit on both reported revenue and adjusted operating profit for this year.
No sugarcoating on the soft spots. The company echoed CEO Brian McNamara’s earlier caution: “what we do know today is that Q1 cold and flu season is going to be below a year ago.” Respiratory Health slid 1.9% organically in 2025, hampered by a milder, shorter season—fourth quarter particularly weak. Haleon Corporate
North America is still the key area to watch. According to Haleon, the region contracted by 0.4% in 2025 and slipped 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Softer category growth, a more challenging consumer environment, and leaner inventories at retail and pharmacy customers cut into gains from robust oral-care sales and a recovery in vitamins. In February, Chris Beckett at Quilter Cheviot noted that plenty of U.S. households “feel financially stretched,” with that pressure starting to impact even sales of non-prescription medicines. Haleon Corporate
Haleon isn’t the only one feeling the pinch. Reckitt, the maker behind Nurofen and Lemsip, flagged this month that a lighter cold-and-flu season would hit its healthcare numbers for the first quarter too—signaling that weather’s become a drag across OTC products.
There are offsets. According to Haleon’s memo, Oral Health posted 7.9% organic growth in 2025, while Asia Pacific climbed 5.2%. Fourth-quarter numbers got a lift from mid-single-digit gains in China and double-digit growth out of India. Earlier this month, Reuters noted Haleon is putting £65 million into a new oral-health plant in Shanghai to extend Parodontax’s reach in more Chinese cities. “China’s an incredible market,” McNamara said. Haleon Corporate
Haleon is putting more emphasis on cash returns, setting aside 500 million pounds for share buybacks in 2026. The company kicked off its on-market repurchase program on March 12, as shown on its investor site.
Even so, the situation remains shaky. Management is sticking with its forecast for Haleon to return to 4% to 6% medium-term growth by 2027. But if North America turns in another sluggish quarter, or if discounts deepen in vitamins or smokers’ health, or there’s a second letdown in respiratory, those 2027 targets start looking dicey.
Haleon is set to report first-quarter results on April 29. The company stuck to its previous outlook in a memo released Friday, but that hardly changed the story. Investors are still waiting to see clear signs of stronger U.S. demand—and some relief from the drag of weaker cold-and-flu product sales.
