GSK Covid sales soar but sees slowdown next year

The company, which recently rejected a bid from consumer conglomerate Unilever for its consumer products division, also said it expected pandemic-related sales to slow after this year due to lower margins on its antibody treatment.

For the year to December, 31 pre-tax profit fell 22% to £5.44bn year-on-year on flat revenue of £34.11b, hindered by lower vaccines sales, and weakness in the consumer healthcare business. Adjusted operating profit was £8.82bn, down from £8.91bn.

GSK's own consumer healthcare business contributed £9.6bn in sales, down 4% from 2020.The company has pledged to raise billions by spinning off the unit, which includes the Nicorette, Panadol and Aquafresh brands, in a London stock market listing this summer.

On the drugs front, demand for sotrovimab, which GSK developed with Vir Biotechnology, has surged after it was found to be one of the few Covid-19 treatments shown to have worked against the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Sotrovimab sales were £828m in the final quarter, up from £114m in the previous three months and well above market expectations of £774m

Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings were 25.6p a share pence per share, while turnover rose 13% to £9.53bn. Analysts had expected fourth-quarter earnings of 23.8p on sales of £9.49bn, according to a company-compiled consensus.

GSK added that it remained on track to de-merge its consumer healthcare business by the middle of 2022.

Looking ahead, GSK expected sales to grow by 5% - 7% at constant exchange rates and adjusted operating profit to grow by between 12% - 14%.

Chief executive Emma Walmsley faces pressure from the the US-based activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which is pushing for the sale of the consumer business. GSK rejected three offers from Unilever as too low - with the last worth £50bn - leading to Unilever abandoning its ambitions.