Haleon plc (HLN)

Price£3.53Cached quoteAs of 2026-09-05 04:21 UTC

AI: Fair-priced

Price checkThe shares look reasonably valued, with improving profits offset by only modest sales growth.

At the observed market level, Haleon trades at about 20 times 2025 reported earnings and roughly 17 times 2025 free cash flow, meaning cash left after running and investing in the business. Those are not bargain multiples for a company whose 2025 organic sales grew 3.0% and whose first-half 2026 growth was 2.6%. However, operating profit and cash generation are improving. The price therefore appears to assume continued margin gains and a gradual return toward management's 4%-6% medium-term sales-growth range rather than a dramatic acceleration.

Big pictureCash generation is durable and debt is falling, but the balance sheet still carries meaningful leverage.

Operating cash flow increased from £2.10 billion in 2023 to £2.63 billion in 2025, while capital spending remained only £322 million in 2025. That supports strong recurring cash generation despite slow headline revenue growth. Net debt improved from £9.76 billion at the end of 2022 to £7.29 billion at the end of 2025, and management reported net debt at 2.5 times adjusted operating cash earnings in June 2026. The remaining debt limits downside protection somewhat, but steady deleveraging makes the balance sheet materially stronger than after the 2022 separation.

Business strengthStrong brands and widening margins are producing better earnings even when consumer demand grows slowly.

Revenue slipped from £11.30 billion in 2023 to £11.03 billion in 2025, yet operating income rose from £2.00 billion to £2.41 billion and net income reached £1.67 billion. First-half 2026 adjusted operating profit rose 8.2% at constant exchange rates, while adjusted gross margin increased 1.4 percentage points to 66.5%. Oral Health remains the clearest strength, with second-quarter organic growth of 6.2%. The business is relatively defensive, although respiratory products remain sensitive to cold-and-flu seasons and recent weak seasons have noticeably reduced growth.

What could change the storyFaster sales growth would support a higher value, while stalled growth would expose the current valuation.

The strongest bull case is that productivity savings, Sensodyne-led Oral Health growth and emerging-market expansion let earnings rise faster than sales while buybacks reduce the share count. Shares outstanding already fell about 3% from 2023 through 2025, and Haleon completed roughly 144 million additional repurchases under its 2026 programme. The bear case is persistent weak demand: first-half organic growth of 2.6% remained below the 4%-6% medium-term goal. At today's valuation, sustained growth near 3% with fewer margin gains would leave limited room for disappointment.

AI: News

Half-year growth concernsProfit beat expectations, but weak European and respiratory sales raised doubts about Haleon's growth targets.

On July 30, Haleon reported first-half organic revenue growth of 2.6% and adjusted operating profit of £1.36 billion, above the £1.32 billion analyst consensus cited by Reuters. North America improved to 3.1% growth in the second quarter, but respiratory sales fell 6.5% and European growth was nearly flat. Reuters reported London shares fell as much as 3.3%. The reaction appears tied to concern that stronger second-half sales are needed to approach longer-term growth ambitions, despite healthy margin improvement.

Thorne takeover endedA possible large supplements acquisition disappeared after Procter & Gamble agreed to buy Thorne instead.

Reuters reported on June 26 that Haleon had submitted a bid for supplements maker Thorne, which was reportedly valued at up to $4 billion; Haleon declined to comment on the speculation. On August 4, Procter & Gamble announced a $3.8 billion cash acquisition of Thorne. For Haleon, the outcome removes the near-term possibility of a sizeable acquisition that could have expanded its U.S. supplements business but also required substantial capital. Any Haleon share-price effect from the bidding reports cannot be established reliably from timing alone.

Buyback programme completedHaleon finished its planned 2026 repurchases, reducing the share count while returning cash to shareholders.

Haleon disclosed that its £500 million 2026 on-market buyback programme concluded on August 18 after repurchasing about 144 million shares. That amount equals roughly 1.6% of the year-end 2025 share count, before considering employee share issuance or other changes. Buybacks increase each remaining share's ownership of future earnings when conducted at sensible prices. The programme also demonstrates confidence in cash generation, although using cash for repurchases competes with faster debt repayment and potential acquisitions.

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Financial statements

	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020
Revenue	£11.03B	£11.23B	£11.30B	£10.86B	£9.54B	£9.89B
Gross profit	£7.08B	£6.82B	£6.75B	£6.58B	£5.95B	£5.91B
Gross margin	64.19%	60.75%	59.70%	60.57%	62.34%	59.75%
Research & development	£316.0M	£298.0M	£311.0M	£300.0M	£257.0M	£304.0M
Operating expenses	£4.67B	£4.62B	£4.75B	£4.75B	£4.31B	£4.31B
Operating income	£2.41B	£2.21B	£2.00B	£1.82B	£1.64B	£1.60B
Operating margin	21.87%	19.64%	17.66%	16.81%	17.16%	16.15%
EBITDA	£2.77B	£2.53B	£2.31B	£2.18B	—	—
EBITDA margin	25.13%	22.52%	20.39%	20.10%	—	—
Net income	£1.68B	£1.48B	£1.11B	£1.12B	£1.44B	£1.18B
Net profit margin	15.23%	13.13%	9.83%	10.31%	15.08%	11.94%
Basic EPSper basic share	£0.19	£0.16	£0.11	£0.12	£0.15	£0.12
Diluted EPSper diluted share	£0.19	£0.16	£0.11	£0.12	£0.15	£0.12

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Owners

Reported major voting-rights holders

FCA threshold notices

4.69%of voting rights

Wellington Management Group LLPNotified Sep 23, 2025

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Reported major voting-rights holders of HLN
Holder	Voting rights
Wellington Management Group LLP	4.69%Sep 23, 2025 · 418.58M votes

These are threshold-crossing notices, not a complete ownership register. Percentages show issuer voting rights held through the listed share class, exclude financial instruments, and come from different dates. Positions may overlap.

Gray completes the 100% scale; it is not an estimate of other owners.

Source: FCA National Storage Mechanism ↗Updated Sep 27, 2026

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