GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday that it expects full-year earnings to be towards the top end of its guidance range as it reported a jump in second-quarter profit and revenues.
Adjusted operating profit for the quarter rose 23% to £2.2bn, while total turnover was up 6% at £8.09bn.
Turnover in the pharmaceuticals segment was 3% higher at £4.2bn, driven by strong growth in new and specialty products, and a prior year comparator that was impacted by the destocking of Covid-19 related first-quarter additional demand.
Vaccines turnover rose 39% to £1.6bn, driven mainly by pandemic adjuvant sales, higher demand for DTPa-containing vaccines in the US and increased demand for Bexsero in the US and Europe. Vaccines turnover excluding pandemic vaccines grew 16% to £1.3bn.
In consumer healthcare, which is being spun off into a separate company, turnover fell 4% to £2.3bn.
Glaxo reaffirmed its guidance for 2021 for a decline of mid to high-single digit percent adjusted earnings per share (EPS) and constant exchange rates (CER), excluding any contribution from Covid solutions.
In addition, following its “strong” Q2 performance, the company said it is likely to deliver full-year adjusted EPS towards “the better end” of its guidance range, which is for a decline of mid-to-high single-digit percentage at CER, excluding any contribution from Covid-19 solutions.
Chief executive Emma Walmsley said the group had delivered an “excellent” performance in Q2.
“We expect this positive momentum to continue through the second half of the year driving us towards the better end of our earnings guidance range for 2021, and meaningful performance improvement in 2022,” she said. “We continue to strengthen our pipeline and are advancing well towards separation. Our clear priority is to focus on execution, unlocking the value of Consumer Healthcare and delivering the step-change in growth and performance we now see for GSK.”
The shares shot up after the announcement and by 1225 BST were trading up 1.5% at 1,420.20p.
