Haleon CEO warns staff of 'difficult choices' ahead after sales miss, memo says

By Richa Naidu

LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Haleon CEO Brian McNamara warned staff on Thursday that the British maker of Sensodyne toothpaste and Beechams cold medicines faced "difficult choices" in coming months, according to a memo seen by Reuters, after the group cut its annual revenue growth outlook.

Haleon, which also makes Advil painkillers, earlier posted third-quarter revenue that missed forecasts and reported weaker sales in key market China, knocking its shares down ​15% to the lowest since early 2024.

"We'll need to make some difficult choices in the months ahead about where we focus our investment," McNamara wrote in the memo. "Not all decisions will be easy, but they will be necessary to build a stronger, more sustainable business."

McNamara did not give further details in the memo about what the tough decisions would relate to. Haleon declined to comment.

McNamara told staff in the memo that the company needed to speed up innovation, sharpen commercial execution and improve returns on its advertising and promotional spending.

"We need to improve our performance. What we need from everyone is ownership, accountability, and a relentless focus on execution and results," he said. "Our overall rate of growth and our competitiveness are not where they need to be."

Haleon, which was spun out of GlaxoSmithKline in 2022, said it now expects full-year organic or self-generated revenue ⁠growth of around 2.5%, against a previous ​forecast of 3% to 5%. Analysts had been ​expecting 3.2% in a company-compiled poll.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Adam Jourdan and David Holmes)