GlaxoSmithKline Clocks 32% Topline Growth Buoyed By COVID-19 Therapy, Shingrix Vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline Plc's GSK Q1 turnover reached £9.78 billion, up 32% Y/Y on actual exchange rate AER and constant exchange rate CER basis.
Specialty Medicines turnover was £3.13 billion, up 98% AER, 97% CER (+16% AER, 15% CER excluding Xevudy), driven by consistent growth in all therapy areas, including sales of Xevudy.
Sales of Xevudy (sotrovimab) for COVID-19 treatment stood at £1.31 billion.
Vaccines sales benefited from Shingrix's post-pandemic recovery and reached £1.67 billion, up 36%.
General Medicines sales reached £2.34 billion, up 2% AER, 3% CER reflecting growth from Trelegy and recovery of the antibiotics market.
Consumer Healthcare turnover in the quarter was £2.63 billion, up 14%.
The adjusted operating margin of 26.7% is 1.4 percentage points higher at AER and 1.3 percentage points higher on a CER basis than in Q1 2021.
Adjusted EPS was 32.8p, up 43%.
Outlook: GlaxoSmithKline reaffirmed FY22 sales growth of 5% to 7% and adjusted operating profit to increase by 12% - 14%.
2022 guidance excludes any contribution from COVID-19 solutions.
Specialty Medicines to grow approximately 10% CER and sales of General Medicines to show a slight decrease.
Vaccines sales are expected to grow at a low-teens percentage at CER for the year.
GSK continues to expect strong double-digit growth and record annual sales for Shingrix in 2022.
Price Action: GSK shares are up 2.61% at $45.55 during the market session on the last check Wednesday.