Haleon declares maiden dividend amid profit growth

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