LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Growing demand for new drugshelped GlaxoSmithKline beat forecasts for fourth-quarterearnings by a small margin on Wednesday, offsetting a continuedslide in sales of its older Advair respiratory medicine.
Sales, in sterling terms, rose 2 percent to 6.29 billionpounds ($9.12 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31,generating core earnings per share (EPS) down 34 percent at 18.1pence.
Analysts on average had forecast sales of 6.25 billionpounds and core EPS, which excludes certain items, of 17.9p,according to Thomson Reuters. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)