GSK plc (GSK.L) has announced a decrease in its third quarter profit before tax, which fell to £64 million from £1.79 billion in the same period last year. The profit after tax dropped to £65 million from £1.53 billion, primarily due to a £1.8 billion, or approximately $2.3 billion, charge associated with the Zantac settlement.
The loss attributable to shareholders in this quarter stood at £58 million, or 1.4 pence per share, compared to a profit of £1.46 billion, or 35.6 pence per share, reported during the equivalent quarter last year. The core earnings per basic share slightly decreased to 49.7 pence compared to 50.4 pence from the previous year.
For the third quarter, turnover decreased to £8.01 billion, compared to £8.15 billion in the same quarter of the prior year.
GSK has declared a dividend of 15 pence per share for the third quarter of 2024 and anticipates declaring a total dividend of 60 pence per share for the entire year of 2024.
The company reaffirms its full-year 2024 sales, core profit, and earnings guidance based on constant exchange rates (CER), forecasting outcomes around the midpoint of the current range. It's important to note that all guidance and expected growth rates for the full year exclude any contributions from COVID-19 solutions.
GSK continues to expect annual growth in core operating profit between 11% and 13%, core earnings per share growth of 10% to 12%, and turnover growth of 7% to 9%.
