GlaxoSmithKline sales boosted by new drugs

GlaxoSmithKline reported buoyant sales of new drugs in the three months to December, helping to compensate for declines in older medicines.

Sales rose 2% to £6.29bn in the quarter, slightly better than analysts had expected.

However, the company fell to a pre-tax loss of £416m compared with a profit of £531m for the same period in 2014.

New treatments for HIV, respiratory conditions and meningitis vaccines had sales of £682m in the quarter.

The total for 2015 as a whole was £2bn, prompting GSK to say it expected to reach its £6bn target for new product sales by 2018 - two years earlier than expected.

Sales of the older Advair respiratory medicine continued to fall and have hit profits, as did last year's $20bn asset swap with Novartis.

That deal increased the company's exposure to consumer healthcare at the expense of higher-margin pharmaceuticals.

Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty believed the shift would create a sustainable and less volatile business, but some investors have called for a sale of the non-prescription consumer healthcare business.

He has not ruled out such a move, but is seeking to increase margins in the division, which operates as a GSK-controlled joint venture with Novartis.

Last month, fund manager Neil Woodford called for GSK to be broken up, claiming its complicated structure was akin to having "four FTSE 100 companies bolted together".

It is valued at more than £70bn, making it one of the most valuable businesses listed in London.

Sir Andrew said the healthcare environment remained challenging, but that GSK was committed to its restructuring programme.

Advair was now far less important to the company than it had been, he added.

GSK shares rose 1.7% to £14.50 in afternoon trading in London.

The company said the dividend, which attracts many investors, given its healthy yield of about 6%, would be held steady during 2017.