GSK (LSE:GSK) on Wednesday reported third-quarter turnover of £8.9 billion, up 5% at constant exchange rates, as a 15% jump in Specialty Medicines sales offset a decline in Vaccines and flat General Medicines revenue.
The London-listed pharmaceutical group, a constituent of the FTSE 100, said core operating profit rose 5% to £3.1 billion and core earnings per share increased 1% to 54.6p, while total operating profit fell 16% and total EPS dropped 21% to 38.5p after £328 million in major restructuring charges tied to its Accelerate Growth programme.
Specialty Medicines sales reached £3.9 billion, led by HIV revenue of £2.1 billion, up 10%, with long-acting injectables Cabenuva and Apretude driving most of the growth.
Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation sales rose 21% to £1.1 billion and Oncology grew 23% to £622 million, with Jemperli, Ojjaara/Omjjara and Blenrep all posting gains.
Vaccines turnover fell 2% to £2.6 billion, with Shingrix down 5% to £780 million on weaker International sales, particularly in China, and Arexvy down 24% to £195 million on softer demand; meningitis vaccines were a bright spot, up 12% to £599 million on what GSK described as its highest-ever quarterly sales for the category.
General Medicines revenue held broadly stable at £2.4 billion, with Trelegy up 8% to £787 million offsetting declines elsewhere in the portfolio.
Cash generated from operations came to £3.1 billion for the quarter, with free cash flow of £2.1 billion, both substantially ahead of the prior-year quarter.
Net debt stood at £20.7 billion at 30 September, up from £14.5 billion at the end of 2025, largely reflecting acquisition costs for Nuvalent of £7.1 billion along with smaller deals for RAPT Therapeutics and 35Pharma, dividend payments and the completed £2 billion share buyback.
Chief executive Luke Miels said GSK had "delivered another strong quarter, with our key growth drivers and new launches performing well," pointing to three new US specialty medicine approvals in recent months: Hibsago for chronic hepatitis B, Jideytro for non-small cell lung cancer and Jemperli for rectal cancer.
The company reaffirmed full-year 2026 guidance at constant exchange rates: turnover growth of 3% to 5%, now expected at the upper half of that range, core operating profit growth of 7% to 9%, also expected at the upper half, and core EPS growth of 7% to 9%, expected at the lower half, reflecting higher interest charges of around £700-750 million including the Nuvalent impact and a tax rate expected to rise to around 17.5%.
GSK also reiterated its 2031 sales target of more than £40 billion.
The company declared a third-quarter dividend of 17p per share, keeping it on track for a total of 70p for the full year, with the dividend policy and payout ratio unchanged.
On the pipeline, GSK flagged positive registrational data for Jideytro in first-line ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer, early data for its Ris-Rez and Mo-Rez oncology candidates, and progress toward its target of starting 22 phase III trials in 2026, with 18 already underway.