LONDON, United Kingdom, July 26 – British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday said net profit jumped almost 18 percent in the first half thanks to strong sales of vaccines and HIV drugs.
Profit after tax increased to £3.1 billion ($4 billion) in the six months to the end of June compared with the first half of last year, GSK said in an earnings statement.
“We have delivered another excellent… performance, with strong sales and earnings growth, notably in HIV and vaccines,” chief executive Emma Walmsley said in a statement.
She said recent regulatory approval of Arexvy, the world’s first vaccine for the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, “was an important milestone… and is at the forefront of a next wave in vaccine innovation for GSK”.
Shares in GSK rose 0.6 percent to £14 in London afternoon trading.
“Its core business might be delivering gangbusters but a drugmaker’s real value is found in its pipeline and there’s nothing in this set of results to set pulses racing,” noted Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.
