GSK Shares Drop After Profit Decline and Job Cuts
GSK shares fell 7% after the company reported a 19% profit decline and announced a restructuring plan involving 1,200 job losses.
Shares in GSK plc fell as much as 7% on Wednesday following a report that pre-tax profit declined 19% to £1.9bn for the July to September quarter. While turnover rose 5% to £8.9bn driven by strong sales of cancer, HIV, and lupus medications, investors reacted to a 2% dip in vaccine sales, specifically for the shingles shot Shingrix and the RSV vaccine Arexvy.
Chief Executive Luke Miels announced a restructuring plan designed to save £1.9bn annually. The initiative will cost the company £2.4bn and result in approximately 1,200 job losses at the vaccine business in Belgium, alongside cuts to support roles at the London headquarters. Miels stated, "You never want headquarters to be too big; I want people on the bench in the lab."
The company is preparing for a patent cliff for its HIV drug dolutegravir toward the end of the decade. To counter this, GSK aims to generate over £40bn in annual revenue by 2031 by increasing research and development spending and rebuilding its cancer business.
