Haleon (LON: HLN) shares gained over 1% at the start of Thursday's session following its third-quarter trading statement.
The former GSK consumer health arm reported a 16.1% jump in revenue (8.1% on an organic basis) to £2.89 billion and also raised guidance.
The FTSE 100-listed firm now expects FY22 organic revenue growth to be between 8% and 8.5%, with its adjusted operating profit margin expected to be slightly above last year at actual exchange rates due to the recent favourable translational FX movements. Haleon had previously said it expects 6% to 8% organic growth and margin “slightly down” at constant currency rates.
Price growth came in at 5.5%, slowing from the previous quarter, while volume mix also slowed to 2.6%.
Haleon, which owns Sensodyne, Panadol, and Centrum, said e-commerce was 9% of the company's total revenue with continued growth in the high teens.
Third quarter operating profit grew 12.2% to £569 million, while margin was 19.7%, down 70bps. In addition, Q3 adjusted operating profit increased 14.9% to £725 million. The company stated that pricing and increased efficiencies offset inflationary pressures and the margin decline was due to “guided standalone costs and adverse transactional FX.”
“Haleon delivered another strong quarter of growth in Q3 with 8% organic revenue growth and double-digit growth for the nine months, with increased pricing through the year and continued positive volume/mix,” said Brian McNamara, Chief Executive Officer of Haleon. “We saw accelerated growth in the third quarter in Oral Health, whilst strong comparatives in Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements resulted in category revenue down slightly overall sales were similar to earlier quarters. Respiratory performance was strong given sustained incidences of Covid and cold and flu combined with successful innovation.”