MARKET REPORT: US drugmaker Pfizer is offloading a £2 billion stake in Glaxo spin-off Haleon

Haleon’s top shareholder is selling a £2 billion stake in the group.

US drugmaker Pfizer will divest about 630 million shares, reducing its stake in toothpaste maker Sensodyne from 32 percent to 24 percent.

Pfizer will also sell back around £315m worth of shares to Haleon, whose shares fell 2.3 per cent, or 7.3p, to 315p.

Haleon, which is also behind Otrivine nasal drops and painkillers Panadol and Advil, was floating at 330p in London in July 2022.

Before the listing, consumer healthcare was led by GSK (up 0.7 percent, or 11.2 cents, to 1,660.8 cents) and Pfizer.

The London pharmaceutical giant owned 68 percent, while its American counterpart controlled the rest.

GSK spun off its consumer healthcare unit into a separate company in 2022, creating Haleon.

Two months ago, GSK – which has a 4.2 percent stake – also sold 300 million shares. In the broader markets, the FTSE 100 fell 0.06 percent, or 4.87 points, to 7722.55 and the FTSE 250 lost 0.1 percent, or 26.38 points, to 19486.53.

Rolls-Royce once again came painfully close to reaching a record high.

Shares in the jet engine maker, which peaked at 396.5p in January 2014, fell 0.9 per cent, or 3.5p, to 390p yesterday.

Easyjet won after a bullish update from its boss Johan Lundgren, who said the airline’s business travel will return to the same levels as before the pandemic.

He also said the company predicts its capacity will grow 8 percent this summer thanks to aircraft deliveries.

Stock watch – Focusrite

A slowdown in business will hurt earnings for music and audio products group Focusrite.

The company expects to generate at least £155 million in revenue in the year to the end of August, along with a profit of between £27 million and £30 million.

That would be less than the £180m in sales and £38m in profits that analysts had estimated.

The company blamed a sharp decline in sales in China and Japan, weak consumer demand and shipping delays for its new audio mixers.

Shares fell 26 percent, or 100p, to 285p.

The shares added 0.8 percent, or 4.4p, to 534p.

Aston Martin rose 5 percent, or 7.9 cents, to 167.4 cents after Bank of America analysts upgraded the luxury car maker’s rating.

The broker said the company is “turning the corner” as it has strengthened its finances.

Aviva has sold its stake in Singapore Life for £937 million.

In September last year, the insurer agreed to sell its 25.9 percent stake in Singlife, along with two debt instruments, to Sumitomo Life for £800 million.

Three months later, Aviva said it would have to make £930 million from the deal. And yesterday it was revealed the price was even higher: £937 million.

Shares fell 0.4 percent, or 1.7p, to 480.7p. Property developer British Land has teamed up with asset manager Royal London to turn the former headquarters of Facebook owner Meta into a science and technology centre.

The pair’s joint company wants to convert the Euston site, which is valued at £385 million, into a facility with laboratories and office space. Shares in British Land rose 1.2 percent, or 4.3p, to 372.5p.

Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Cillit Bang, has recovered some of last week’s losses.

On Friday, the consumer giant behind brands including Nurofen, Dettol and Durex announced it had been ordered to pay £50 million to the mother of a premature baby who died after being fed the company’s Enfamil baby food.

Shares fell 14.6 per cent on Friday but rose 2 per cent, or 89p, to 4575p yesterday.