Asthma and HIV Therapies Drive GSK's Q1 Profit Beat Amid Vaccine Softness; Full-Year Outlook Reaffirmed

Intelligent Finance APP learned that British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.US) announced its first-quarter earnings report on Friday. The financial report showed that the company's first-quarter profit exceeded expectations, particularly due to stronger-than-expected sales of asthma and HIV treatment drugs, which offset the negative impact from weaker overall sales in the vaccine business line.

GSK Reports Q1 Earnings Beat with HIV and Respiratory Drugs Driving Growth

As some of its leading drugs enter the later stages of their patent life cycles, doubts have arisen about the revenue-generating potential of GSK's business pipeline, putting pressure on the company to boost sales and profit growth.

Financial report data shows that in the last quarter, GSK's HIV treatment drug Dovato and the Ellipta series of drugs for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) became the main contributors to performance growth and the primary drivers of maintaining performance expansion.

After the U.S. CDC's drug evaluation expert panel did not directly recommend the widespread vaccination of a broader age group with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine, overall demand for the RSV vaccine product Arexvy significantly declined, with related sales dropping by approximately 57% year-over-year.

The positive news lies in the fact that GSK’s management has maintained its forecast for the full-year 2025 performance and expressed strong confidence in the company's annual growth despite the significant impact of tariffs. The company's management continues to expect overall sales growth of 3% to 5% for 2025, core operating profit growth of 6% to 8%, and core earnings per share growth of 6% to 8%.

However, global pharmaceutical companies are currently preparing for the potential impact of US tariffs on drugs. GSK is no exception, but its management emphasized the company's resilience in the face of tariff policies. Chief Executive Emma Walmsley pointed out in a media interview after the earnings announcement that the company had long diversified its manufacturing supply chain.

It is reported that the Trump administration is advancing plans to impose tariffs on global pharmaceutical products, with the U.S. Department of Commerce leading an in-depth investigation. The U.S. Department of Commerce recently disclosed that it has initiated investigations into the impact on U.S. national security of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors imported into the United States. This is widely seen as a prelude to imposing tariffs on the global pharmaceutical and semiconductor sectors, which could further escalate the global trade war sparked by the Trump administration.

Among them, the investigation targeting the pharmaceuticals industry will cover all medicine imports, including finished generic drugs and originator drugs, as well as the specific key components used to produce these drugs. Investigators will also review the import situation of critical pharmaceutical ingredients.

In terms of shareholder returns, GSK's first-quarter dividend for 2025 is 16 pence, with an estimated full-year dividend for 2025 at 64 pence. As part of the £2 billion share repurchase program that began in the first quarter of 2025, £273 million worth of shares have already been repurchased.