GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) has raised its full-year guidance for the second time in three months as soaring sales of its shingles vaccine, Shingrix, drove bumper third-quarter results which comfortably topped City expectations.
The FTSE 100 listed company reported a 9% increase in third-quarter constant currency sales to £7.83bn, ahead of City expectations of £7.32bn, with adjusted earnings per share of 46.9p, above forecasts of 40.1p.
The drugmaker also lifted its guidance for 2022 and now forecasts sales growth of between 8% to 10% compared to a previous forecast of 5% to 7%, with a 15% to 17% increase in adjusted operating profit now expected supported by growing revenues and improved margins - up from 13% to 15% before.
For the third quarter, growth was led by a strong performance in Specialty Medicines with sales of £2.7bn, up 24%, while Oncology sales rose by 19% and Immuno-inflammation and other specialty sales were up by 17%.
Elsewhere, Vaccine sales of £2.5bn, rose 5%, with sales of its shingles vaccine Shingrix surging 36% to £750mln, while General Medicines sales of £2.6bn, were up 1%.
Adjusted operating margin reached 33.3%, up 4% at constant currency including a contribution from COVID-19 solutions of around 2% (constant currency) while the quarter also saw cash generated from operations of £1.9bn.
In a statement, Emma Walmsley, the company's chief executive officer, said: “GSK has delivered another quarter of excellent performance, with strong growth in Specialty Medicines, record sales for our shingles vaccine, Shingrix, and further improvements in adjusted operating profit.”
“We are again raising our full-year guidance and expect good momentum in 2023, further strengthening our confidence in our performance outlooks, driven by Shingrix global expansion and expected new launches including our new RSV vaccine.
“We are also making good progress to strengthen our early-stage pipeline and will continue to invest in targeted business development to build optionality and support growth in the second half of the decade," she added.
The group paid a 13.75p dividend for the quarter with the full-year pay-out expected to be 61.25p.