GSK has announced strong quarterly results, reporting sales of £7.8 billion and growth in various sectors of the business.
Overall, the company’s adjusted operating profit for the third quarter came in at £2.6 billion, a 17% increase compared to the same period last year and reflecting a 4% year-on-growth at CER.
The quarterly results are for the first for GSK since it separated its consumer healthcare business, making GSK a pure-play therapeutics company. GSK’s consumer business, now named Haelon, is an entirely separate business focused on consumer healthcare and providing over-the-counter products in areas such as oral care, respiratory health and pain relief.
Going forward, GSK expects a strong fourth quarter, with continued high sales and what it describes as an increase in its R&D spending.
Vaccines
GSK’s vaccine division experienced high sales, with its shingles vaccine being a particular standout. In total, the company’s vaccine division took in revenues of £2.5 billion, representing a growth of 9% CER. The growth was partially helped by more favourable markets, with 2021 being impacted by Covid-19.
Sales for GSK’s shingles vaccine Shingrix came in at £760 million in the three months leading to the end of September, representing 51% growth for the therapy. This growth was put down to increased sales following the Covid-19 pandemic and strong commercial operations internationally. For instance, in the US, Shingrix sales grew 23% at AER and 5% at CER, though growth in this quarter was stated as being more challenging compared to previous quarters. The company now expects strong double-digit growth and record annual sales in 2022 for Shingrix, based on its demand and expansion into new markets. Recent results for the therapy show that Shingrix provides at least 10 years protection against shingles for adults aged 50 years and over.
Another strong performer was the company’s meningitis vaccines sales, which grew at 16% CER bringing in £441 million. The performance was largely put down to GSK’s Meningitis B vaccine Bexsero, which brought in a revenue of £275 million.
Specialty medicines
GSK’s specialty medicines, which includes treatments for asthma and lupus, were the company’s strongest performing division, taking in £2.7 billion with a growth of 24% CER. GSK says that it saw consistent growth in all of its therapy areas within this division.
General medicines
For its general medicines sector, growth in Q3 was largely driven by GSK’s COPD treatment Trelegy, which brought in sales of £465 million and performed well in all regions. However, for respiratory medicines, GSK states that sales of Advair and Seretide, other treatments for COPD, were negatively affected by competition from generics suppliers, with sales down 23% CER.
Overall though GSK’s general medicines performed reasonably, making £2.6 billion at 1% CER.
The strong results means that the company has now increased its overall expected growth for 2022. GSK now aims to deliver sales growth of between 8-10% CER and an adjusted operating profit of between 15-17% CER.
Official comments
Speaking about the results, Emma Walmsley, Chief Executive Officer, GSK said: “GSK has delivered another quarter of excellent performance, with strong growth in Specialty Medicines, record sales for our shingles vaccine, Shingrix, and further improvements in adjusted operating profit. We are again raising our full-year guidance and expect good momentum in 2023, further strengthening our confidence in our performance outlooks, driven by Shingrix global expansion and expected new launches including our new RSV vaccine. We are also making good progress to strengthen our early-stage pipeline and will continue to invest in targeted business development to build optionality and support growth in the second half of the decade.”
