Glaxosmithkline Share News (GSK)

- Turnover falls 4%- Competition from generic brands hurts profit- Full-year 2014 guidance cutGlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Wednesday slashed its 2014 outlook as it reported a 4% fall in second quarter revenue to £5.6bn.The drugmaker, which is in deep water over a bribery scandal in China, said core earnings per share (EPS) dropped 12% to 19.1p and operating profit declined 14% to £1.4bn.Pharmaceutical and vaccine sales were down 4%, due to rising competition in the US respiratory market and the launch of a generic version of the company's heart pill Lovaza in April. Outside the US, the emerging markets business grew 11% and in Europe sales were flat for the quarter.The company said it plans to divest certain European and US brands.GSK now expects to deliver 2014 full-year core EPS "broadly similar to last year", down from its previous estimate of 4-8% growth. The second quarter results come after the group last week confirmed it fired staff in China for bribing doctors and hospitals to use GSK's drugs in 2001.In May Chinese police charged the former UK boss of the drugmaker's China business, Mark Reilly, and other colleagues with corruption.US authorities are now investigating GSK for violations of US anti-bribery laws in China."The ongoing investigation in China adversely impacted emerging markets pharmaceuticals and vaccines sales growth by an estimated four percentage points," the group said in its interim statement on Wednesday."In China, sales excluding established products were down 20% to £62m (including established products, down 25% to £129m)."RD