Friday 10 February 2012

GSK plans new products to boost sales and sustain growth


Britain's biggest drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has said a pipeline of new products would help sustain growth as it revealed a rise in underlying sales. The pharmaceuticals company said a range of new drugs - including for epilepsy, lupus and rotavirus - should help it boost its margins in the year ahead.
GSK said underlying sales, which exclude sales of scrapped diabetes blockbuster Avandia, pandemic flu vaccines and antiviral drug Valtrex, rose 5% in the quarter. Total sales declined 4% but this was an improvement on the previous two quarters.

The company reported pre-tax profits before major restructuring in the three months to June 30 were £1.27bn, compared to £130m a year earlier. However, last year's figure included a huge £1.57bn legal charge.

GSK is undergoing restructuring which includes plans to sell off some of its lesser known consumer brands - mainly sold in the US and Europe - to allow it to focus on its blockbuster names such as Lucozade, Sensodyne, Horlicks and Panadol.

The company reported a 60% drop in annual profits for 2010 after it paid out £4bn to resolve legal disputes following claims about the alleged side-effects of some of its drugs. Glaxo said sales in Japan and the US offset a 1% decline in European sales - Japanese sales were ahead 12% and the United States was up 3%. Emerging markets leapt 20%.

It said an additional £300m in savings has been identified, which will bring total cost cuts to £2.5bn by next year.

No comments:

Post a Comment