Haleon declares maiden dividend amid profit growth

Consumer health business Haleon proposed its maiden dividend on Thursday as the GSK spinoff said price hikes and efficiencies had led to profit growth and increased cash flow.

Haleon proposed a dividend payment of 2.4p per share, roughly 30% of the company's adjusted earnings since listing, and stated it intends to keep its pay-out ratio at approximately that level moving forward.

The FTSE 100-listed group said adjusted operating profits grew 14% to £2.5bn, or 5.9% at constant currency, despite battling "significant" inflation in costs, standalone fees and adverse FX transactions.

Revenue also rose 14%, up to £10.86bn, with organic growth rising 9.0%, driven by a 4.3% uptick from price increases and 4.7% from volume and product mix. Free cash flow came to £1.6bn after the group narrowed net debt from £10.7bn to £9.9bn.

Moving forward, Haleon guided for revenue growth of 4.6% in 2023, while adjusted operating profit margins were predicted to be "broadly flat", principally due to further adverse foreign exchange impacts.

As of 0835 GMT, Haleon shares were down 2.20% at 319.42p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com