GSK and Haleon raise FTSE 100, Centrica loses ground
Centrum-to-Panadol owner Haleon’s shares continued their share price today, rising another 1%, or 3.55p, to 334.2p.
The consumer healthcare giant, whose other brands include Sensodyne and Voltaren, debuted at 330 pence per share in July but fell to 246 pence in September. However, the improving outlook for the global economy and the company’s improved sales forecasts have boosted shares.
UBS analysts today reiterated their price target of 400p and said the current discount of 25% to peers appears unjustified.
The Swiss bank added that the Weybridge-based company, which is chaired by former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis, has the “best of both worlds” thanks to the resilience of the consumer healthcare category and the strength of its brand portfolio.
Haleon was added to the board of the FTSE 100 riser by its former parent company as GSK shares returned to levels seen last August as sentiment towards the drug giant was eroded by uncertainty surrounding the US heartburn-drug litigation Zantac was shaken.
GSK shares were below 1300p in September but have since recovered to stand at 1486p after today’s 2% or 25p gain.
As other heavyweights such as BP, Shell, Prudential and HSBC made robust gains, the FTSE 100 Index recouped part of yesterday’s almost 1% drop, climbing 34.05 points to 7870.76.
Among hard-pressed blue-chip stocks, British gas owner Centrica fell 0.9p to 96.1p and accounting software group Sage fell 7.2p to 787.4p.
The UK-focused FTSE 250 index slipped another 81.21 points to 20,328.17 as stocks including recruitment firm Page and electronics chain Currys fell 2%.
One of the best performances came from Auction Technology Group (ATG) when the owner of The Saleroom and LiveAuctioneers strengthened its position in North America with its $40 million ($33.3 million) acquisition of Missouri-based Estatesales.net sterling) strengthened.
ATG, whose shares rose 24p to 707p, described the US home clearance market as growing and fragmented with an estimated value of US$5 billion (£4.2 billion) in 2022.
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