GSK Gsk Plc

By Carlo Martuscelli

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.LN) said Wednesday that fourth-quarter profit before tax more than tripled, but guided for a fall in adjusted earnings per share in the year ahead on the impact of generic competition.

The company said pretax profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 was 1.37 billion pounds ($1.79 billion), compared with GBP442 million the previous-year period, missing analysts' estimates of GBP1.90 billion based on a FactSet consensus forecast. The gain on the year earlier can be attributed to a charge it booked in 2017 relating to U.S. tax reform.

Turnover rose 7.3% to GBP8.20 billion--ahead of the GBP7.97 billion predicted by analysts.

The company said that sales from its pharmaceuticals division increased 6% in the quarter, with growth in all therapy areas. HIV drugs were its fastest growing segment in the division, with sales up 10% on the year earlier. Vaccines sales grew by 22%--driven by its shingles vaccine Shingrix. The medicine was in high demand in 2018 and Glaxo has previously reported shortages, forcing it to ration doses.

The U.K. pharmaceutical said that in the year ahead it expects adjusted EPS to fall between 5% and 9% at constant exchange rates. The decline reflects the recent decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve a generic competitor to its Advair respiratory drug. Glaxo said that the recent acquisition of cancer-specialist Tesaro also will weigh on its results.

It declared a dividend of 23 pence for the quarter, unchanged from the previous-year period. The company said it expects to declare a full-year dividend of 80 pence per share in 2019--in line with the year before.

Write to Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2019 07:43 ET (12:43 GMT)

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