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Brentford, London-based GSK PLC on Wednesday reported a slip in quarterly sales, but confirmed its 2023 guidance. Pharmaceutical firm GSK said its sales performance in the first quarter of 2023 reflected lower Covid-19 solution sales compared to the previous year. When excluding this Covid-related business, sales grew 10% at constant exchange rates. In the quarter, turnover totalled £6.95 billion, down from £7.19 billion the previous year. Pretax profit was £1.91 billion, down from £2.09 billion the year prior. Adjusted operating profit rose by 8% on a year before to £2.09 billion, and adjusted operating profit margin was 30.1%, up 3.1 percentage points. Key growth drivers included Shingrix for shingles, meningitis vaccines, oral two-drug regimen and long-acting HIV medicines, Benlysta in immunology, Nucala and Trelegy in respiratory, which combined contributed more than 40% of sales, GSK said. Despite, the fall in turnover and pretax profit, GSK affirmed its full-year guidance, expecting turnover growth of between 6% and 8% and adjusted operating profit to increase between 10% and 12%. It noted that it now expects first half and second half turnover growth to be broadly similar, and adjusted operating profit growth to be lower in the first half of 2023 and higher in the second half. It declared a quarterly dividend of 14 pence per share. It said it expects to payout 56.5p per share in dividends in 2023. This is 7.8% lower than its 2022 full-year dividend of 61.25p. Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley said: ‘We are very focused on our upcoming launches, including our potential RSV older adult vaccine, and on continuing to strengthen our pipeline - both organically with several positive late-stage read-outs already this year, and through targeted business development. This continued momentum is also supporting our confidence in delivering our medium and long-term growth ambitions.’ GSK shares were 0.9% lower at 1,478.40 pence each on Wednesday morning in London. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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