Drugmaker GSK sees profit soar on consumer health spinoff

London: British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday announced soaring annual profits thanks to the demerger of its consumer healthcare unit Haleon.

Net profit surged to £14.9 billion ($18.3 billion) last year from £4.4 billion in 2021, GSK said in a statement.

GSK posted a gain of £10.1 billion thanks to the demerger of Haleon, which became London's biggest listing for more than a decade when it was spun off last year.

The company profited last year also from strong sales of its drugs, notably its shingles vaccine Shingrix.

Total annual group revenue jumped 19 percent to £29.3 billion.

"2022 was a landmark year for GSK delivering the step change in performance we committed to, driven by strong growth in speciality medicines and vaccines, including record sales for Shingrix," GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley said in the earnings statement.

"We enter 2023 with good momentum."

Following the update, GSK's share price rose 0.4 percent to £14.28 on London's top tier FTSE 100 index, which was up 0.1 percent overall in early trading.

"Today's full year results would appear to suggest that the business is heading in the right direction with fourth-quarter profits beating expectations," noted Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.