LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline sales andprofits jumped in the fourth quarter, helped by fallingsterling, but the drugmaker cautioned profit growth could beimpacted in 2017 by generic competition to its top-selling lungdrug Advair.
Outgoing Chief Executive Andrew Witty, presenting his finalset of results, said demand for new medicines was increasing andthe company's pipeline of experimental medicines provided fuelfor further growth.
Quarterly sales rose 21 percent in sterling terms to 7.59billion pounds ($9.48 billion), generating core earnings pershare (EPS) up 45 percent at 26.1 pence, GSK said on Wednesday.
Analysts, on average, had forecast sales of 7.45 billionpounds and core EPS, which excludes certain items, of 25p,Thomson Reuters data shows.
Core earnings per share, in constant currencies, are set tobe flat to slightly lower in 2017, if there are substitutablegeneric copies of Advair in the United States by mid-year, asmany analysts expect. If generics don't arrive, core EPS shouldincrease between 5 and 7 percent.
January 2017 average exchange rates, if applied to whole of2017, would benefit sterling core EPS by around 9 percent, thegroup added.
($1 = 0.8005 pounds) (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Martinne Geller)