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(Alliance News) - GlaxoSmithKline PLC on Wednesday said it expects to match 2020's annual payout after a strong third quarter, with both turnover and profit up.
The Brentford, England-based pharmaceutical company reported pretax profit of GBP1.75 billion in the three months to September 30, up 4.8% from GBP1.67 billion a year ago.
Revenue increased by 5.0% to GBP9.08 billion from GBP8.65 billion last year.
"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 R&D pipeline, reinforces our confidence in the outlook for a step-change in growth and performance in 2022 and beyond," said Chief Executive Emma Walmsley.
GSK declared a quarterly dividend of 19 pence per share, unchanged year-on-year, and expects its total annual payout to be 80p per share, also the same as last year.
Looking ahead, GSK now expects 2021 adjusted earnings per share to decline by between 2% and 4% at a constant exchange rate - excluding any contribution from Covid-19 solutions. This is an improvement from July's guidance which saw a decline of mid to high-single digit percent.
Last year, annual adjusted EPS came in at 115.9p, falling from 123.9p a year before.
GlaxoSmithKline shares were up 2.5% at 1,469.40 pence in London midday Wednesday.
By Greg Roxburgh; gregroxburgh@alliancenews.com
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