Haleon completes buyback of 144 million shares from 2026’s £500 million allocation
Key Facts
Haleon did not launch a new £500 million share buyback programme on October 29; it allocated that amount to the programme for 2026 and announced its start on March 12, then completed it on August 18 after buying back around 144 million shares. In its third-quarter trading statement, the company said organic revenue growth was 2.6%, below its expectations. This places the buyback allocation in its timeline as part of a previously announced plan completed before the October statement. Haleon also set out in its third-quarter statement how it would handle shares bought under its new programme. It said around 80% would be cancelled, while the remainder would be held in treasury to meet employee share plan obligations in 2027 and 2028.
The company had reported in its half-year results that it had completed £457 million of purchases out of the annual £500 million allocation. The results also showed free cash flow of £769 million in the first half, up £35 million from the same period in 2025, while net debt to adjusted EBITDA reached 2.5 times at period-end. Haleon linked free cash flow to strong operating leverage. In the second quarter, organic revenue growth accelerated to 3.1% from 1.0% in the first quarter, and the company said growth initiatives and execution supported performance in North America. But third-quarter figures showed a slowdown compared with the same quarter a year earlier, with organic growth at 2.6% versus 3.4% in the third quarter of 2025.
Pricing contributed 2.1% to organic revenue growth in the third quarter, while volume and mix added 0.5%. The company cited weaker consumption of cough, cold and flu products and lower orders in North America. It also cited a reclassification of raw materials linked to Centrum products registered as over-the-counter medicines in China. Chief Executive Brian McNamara said third-quarter organic revenue growth of 2.6% “was below our expectations.” He added that the group’s priority was to strengthen sales volume growth and return consistently to delivering its medium-term guidance. These factors shape the performance picture the company presented alongside its updated full-year outlook.
Haleon cut its organic revenue growth outlook for fiscal 2026 to around 2.5%, after maintaining a range of 3% to 5% in its half-year results. It kept its forecast for adjusted operating profit growth at a high single-digit rate, on a constant-currency basis. It said the revised guidance takes into account the impact of the reclassification of raw materials affecting Centrum products registered as over-the-counter medicines in China, as well as the expected impact of accelerating its new distribution model in Brazil. The company estimated that accelerating the model’s rollout in Brazil would reduce fourth-quarter net revenue by around £15 to 20 million. This comes alongside management’s stated priority of strengthening sales volumes.
HLN shares closed at $10 on October 28, according to EL7 data. That was the day before the third-quarter trading statement, which Haleon’s calendar listed for October 29. Available data do not include a high or low share price for the October 28 session. The company set February 25, 2027, as the date for reporting fiscal 2026 results, the date associated with completion of the new buyback programme. The annual results statement is the next event listed on the company’s calendar after its third-quarter update.