Revenues fall at Sensodyne maker Haleon after weaker painkiller sales

Consumer healthcare firm Haleon has revealed a surprise dip in revenues for the latest quarter as it was impacted by weaker sales of painkillers.

Shares in the Sensodyne and Voltaren maker were lower in early trading on Thursday as a result.

Haleon told investors that revenues declined by 0.6% to £2.78 billion for the three months to September 30, compared with the same period last year.

It came as the company revealed sales in its pain relief business dropped by 1.3% to £628 million for the period.

The group said it was impacted by mid-single digit decline for Panadol, while Voltaren sales were broadly flat.

Total revenues were also impacted by the sale of some of its non-core brands over the past year, including ChapStick which it sold to private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners.

Nevertheless, the group saw organic revenues rise by 6.1% for the quarter, supported by a 3.3% increase in pricing.

It said its biggest brands helped drive a 5.4% rise in organic revenues, highlighting particularly strong performances from Sensodyne, Parodontax and Advil.

Meanwhile, organic profits grew by 7.4% for the quarter.

Chief executive Brian McNamara said: “Third quarter trading was strong with momentum across the business underpinned by the strength of our brand portfolio driving market share gains.

“Oral health was again a particular highlight, with organic revenue up high-single digit as Sensodyne and Parodontax continued to drive growth.

“Having achieved organic revenue and organic profit growth of 4.4% and 9.7% respectively year-to-date, we are well on track to deliver our full-year 2024 guidance.”

Shares in the company were down 2.3% in early trading.