Consumer healthcare giant Haleon worth US$36 billion at launch

LONDON: Haleon, the consumer healthcare unit spun off by British drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline, was worth around £31 billion (US$36 billion) when it began trading in London on Monday (Jul 18).

The new company - which owns brands including Sensodyne toothpaste, pain relief drug Panadol and cold treatment Theraflu - was worth lower than an expected £40 billion, with its shares down 5 per cent.

The major strategy shift by GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley to focus on GKS's core pharmaceuticals business comes after she faced intense activist shareholder pressure over its delays in producing COVID-19 jabs and treatments.

"It's day one of our new era and our new purpose: we're now 100 per cent focused on biopharma innovation, uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together," GSK wrote on Twitter.

GSK's share price tumbled 20 per cent in early London trading following the demerger.

"For Haleon, there's no doubt this is an extremely challenging time to come to market, with this year's equity market volatility," noted Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

"It is also a challenging time for the consumer health sector, given that inflation is close to double digits in the UK and in the US."