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Flu vaccine lifts GSK

Revenue from the swine flu vaccine and flu medicine boosted GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) fourth-quarter profits up by 66%, the company said yesterday.

GSK, which employs around 1,000 in Barnard Castle, County Durham, said it had made a pre-tax profit of £2.25bn in the three months to December 31, compared with £1.39bn a year earlier. Meanwhile, sales rose by 17% to £8bn.

The strong year-end figures pushed annual pre-tax profits up 16 per cent to £7.89bn. Turnover for the year rose 16 per cent to £28.3bn.

Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK, said: “Our strategy is delivering and I believe that GSK is now moving to a position where we can deliver our goal of long-term sustainable financial performance. 2009 saw GSK return to sales growth and I am confident of our prospects in 2010.”

However, the group said it was expanding its restructuring programme to cut costs by a further £500 million within two years. According to The Times, Mr Witty declined to say how many jobs would be lost but analysts have estimated that up to 4,000 of GSK’s 99,000 staff worldwide are at risk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .