MARKET REPORT: Haleon shares slip on Pfizer stake sale plans

Shares in Haleon fell yesterday as the top shareholder of the consumer health group planned to reduce its stake.

US drugmaker Pfizer, which partnered with Biontech to make one of the Covid vaccines, is about to sell its 32 percent stake in the Sensodyne toothpaste maker in a bid to reduce its debt and get more cash back. give to shareholders.

This would begin in a “slow and methodical manner” over the coming months to prevent Haleon’s share price from falling, Pfizer finance chief David Denton told the Financial Times.

His counterpart at Haleon, Tobias Hestler, said the sale of the shares comes as no surprise as the US drug giant has made known its intentions for some time.

He said, “This will happen quarterly from now on until they sell out.

“This is exactly what is expected. If I get a courtesy call the night before they do it would be nice, but they don’t even have to.’

Despite his efforts to shrug off the news, Haleon shares closed down 3.4 percent, or 12.1 pence, to 340.9 pence yesterday.

GSK and Pfizer merged their consumer healthcare divisions to create a joint company in 2019.

It was spun off in July last year to form Haleon, which floated 330p per share, valuing the company at around £30.5bn.

Pfizer’s 32 percent stake in Haleon is worth about £10 billion. GSK, the second largest shareholder, has a stake of about 13 percent.

The news overshadowed Haleon’s first-quarter results.

Rising numbers of colds and flus saw customers stock up on painkillers and nasal drops, boosting sales by 9.9 per cent to £3 billion in the first three months of the year.

Haleon said a strong start to 2023 meant sales growth should reach the top end of the 4 to 6 percent range it gave in March.

Stock watch – Mirriad

Mirriad rose 409.1 percent, or 4.5 pence, to 5.6 pence after the ad agency that specializes in virtual product placement struck a deal with Microsoft.

The technology enables companies to digitally insert objects into content.

It has worked with Lexus, among others, to put its cars in music videos without them being physically there and will work with Microsoft’s Azure platform to make it easier for media partners to exchange data and simplify the process of posting brands in videos.

Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Haleon is performing strongly, with a great portfolio of brands.

There could be an opportunity to pick it up at a discount if Pfizer decides it has a more pressing need for the £10bn or so stake currently valued.”

The FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent, or 15.34 points, to 7788.37 and the FTSE 250 rose 0.3 percent, or 51.37 points, to 19,365.60.

The company behind Paddy Power and Betfair revealed that 30 percent more gamblers have used its services since the World Cup.

Flutter Entertainment attracted about 12.3 million gamblers per month between January and March of this year, compared to about 9.5 million in the same period a year earlier.

However, the positive update failed to impress investors and shares fell 1.2 percent, or 190p, to 15,600p.

Pearson shares bounced back a day after the education publisher was penalized by the market after American colleague Chegg warned that students were turning to artificial intelligence software like ChatGPT for help instead of traditional textbooks.

After falling 15 percent on Tuesday, Pearson shares rallied 10.1 percent, or 76, to 830 pence.

Newspaper publisher Reach has had a rough start to the year due to changes in how Facebook reports newsreader numbers online.

The company, which includes its Daily Mirror and Daily Express titles, reported a 5.9 percent drop in group sales in the four months to April 23.

Digital sales fell 14.5 percent, while print ads fell 19.2 percent.

The figures come as the group cuts £30m in costs in the face of weaker advertising demand.

Reach announced plans last month to put 420 jobs in the UK and Ireland at risk, including those of around 190 of its journalists. Shares rose 1.4 percent, or 1.15 pence, to 83.35 pence.