GSK Q3 pharmaceutical sales grow 5%, lifts 2021 EPS guidance
By Jenny McCall
12:07, 27 October 2021
UK pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) raised its full year earnings per share (EPS) guidance Wednesday while reporting higher third quarter sales.
Turnover for the three months ended 30 September rose 5% to £9.1bn on a reported basis and increased 10% at constant exchange rates (CER).
Adjusted operating profit grew 8% (16% CER) to £2.9bn, or 36.6p per share.
The group said its sales growth was driven by strong commercial execution and underlying demand.
Strong growth
Pharmaceutical sales increased by 5% (10% CER) to £4.4bn, with New and Speciality medicines up 24% at CER. Respiratory, Immuno-inflammation (ex-Covid-19 solutions) and Oncology all grew more than 30% at CER.
Vaccine sales rose 7% (13% CER) to £2.2bn.
Covid-19 sales totalled £209m.
What is your sentiment on GSKl?
Improved EPS guidance
GSK raised its EPS guidance. The group now expects 2021 Adjusted EPS to decline 2%–4% at CER, excluding Covid-19 solutions versus previous expectations of a drop in the mid-to-high single digits.
Covid-19 solutions are expected to contribute 7%–9% to EPS at CER. GSK’s previous guidance did not address Covid-19 solutions.
The group reaffirmed its expectation of “meaningful improvement in revenues and margins.”
Chief executive Emma Walmsley said: “GSK has delivered another quarter of strong business performance, with double-digit sales growth in Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines, increased momentum in Consumer Healthcare, and continued discipline on costs.
“This has allowed us to improve our full-year guidance and, alongside the progress in strengthening our Research and Development pipeline, reinforces our confidence in the outlook for a step-change in growth and performance in 2022 and beyond. We also continue to make excellent progress towards unlocking the value of Consumer Healthcare through a successful demerger in mid-2022.”
Dividend
The group declared an interim dividend of 19p and continues to expect 80p per share for 2021.
Shares are up 0.99% in afternoon trading.
Read more: GSK backs CEO after Elliott charge
The difference between stocks and CFDs
The main difference between CFD trading and stock trading is that you don’t own the underlying stock when you trade on an individual stock CFD.
With CFDs, you never actually buy or sell the underlying asset that you’ve chosen to trade. You can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you.
However, with traditional stock trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the individual shares for money, and you own this equity.
CFDs are leveraged products, which means that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of the CFD trade in order to open a position. But with traditional stock trading, you buy the shares for the full amount. In the UK, there is no stamp duty on CFD trading, but there is when you buy stocks.
CFDs attract overnight costs to hold the trades, (unless you use 1-1 leverage) which makes them more suited to short-term trading opportunities. Stocks are more normally bought and held for longer. You might also pay a stockbroker commission or fees when buying and selling stocks.