‘We expect this strong momentum to continue and look forward to delivering another year of meaningful growth in sales and earnings’ – Emma Walmsley, chief executive of GSK
GSK has upped its profit forecasts for the year, citing robust demand for respiratory virus and shingle vaccines.
The pharmaceutical giant’s shares saw a boost on Wednesday morning following the announcement. Emma Walmsley, GSK’s chief executive, praised the “strong start to 2024, with another quarter of excellent performance and continued pipeline progress”.
The company now anticipates annual core operating profits to grow by between 9% and 11% in 2024, an improvement on its previous forecast of 7% to 10%. Shareholders were also informed that turnover is expected to grow at the upper end of its 5-7% range.
GSK reported a 10% growth in total sales (or 13% excluding Covid-19 related treatments) for the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year. This was bolstered by a 16% increase in vaccine sales, driven by strong demand for Shingrix.
Sales of the shingles vaccine treatment surged by 18%, supported by expanding immunisation programmes in various markets, including the UK and Australia. The firm also experienced higher demand for Arexvy, a respiratory virus vaccine for older adults, particularly in the US.
However, GSK noted a negative impact of around six percentage points to its vaccine business due to decreased demand for Covid-related treatments. Ms Walmsley added: “We have strengthened prospects for growth in all of our key therapeutic areas this quarter: infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/immunology and oncology.”
She further projected: “We expect this strong momentum to continue and look forward to delivering another year of meaningful growth in sales and earnings in 2024.” Following these comments, GSK shares rose by 2.1% to 1,709p in early trading.
