Pharma Giant Pfizer To Start Selling Haleon Stake Within Months, CFO Says

Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) is reportedly looking to start selling its stake in Haleon plc (NYSE: HLN).

In June last, the pharma giant announced its plans to exit the ownership interest in Haleon in a disciplined manner after the demerger.

Pfizer’s CFO, Dave Denton, told the Financial Times that it intends to offload that stake in a “slow and methodical” manner within months.

Pfizer retained its 32% stake in Haleon. GSK Plc (NYSE: GSK) has up to 13.5% in Haleon, while GSK shareholders will own the remaining 54.5%.

“We love the Haleon business, but it’s not strategic,” said Denton. Shares in Haleon have jumped almost 14% since the listing, valuing Pfizer’s stake at about £10 billion.

View more earnings on HLN

However, Haleon’s market capitalization remains significantly below the takeover offer of £50 billion from Unilever plc (NYSE: UL).

The report added that Pfizer would shift its focus from pursuing mergers and acquisitions to replenish its drug pipeline to boosting shareholder returns.

Haleon reported a fall in quarterly adjusted profit margin, mainly because of “cost inflation and incremental standalone costs”. The adjusted operating profit margin of 23.1% declined by 90bps at actual exchange rates and by 140bps at constant currency.

Q1 reported revenue of £2.99 billion (+13.7% Y/Y), +9.9% organic with price +7.1% and favorable volume/mix +2.8%.

The company reaffirms FY 2023 guidance, with organic revenue growth expected to be towards the upper end of the 4-6% range.

Price Action: HLN shares are down 1.69% at $8.72 premarket on the last check Wednesday.

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