GSK net profit rises 12%

Higher vaccine sales and new product launches helped GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals post a net profit of Rs 161.2 crore for the first quarter ended March 31. This was 12.5 per cent higher than the Rs 143.3 crore net profit for the same quarter last year.

Net sales for the quarter was Rs 541.1 crore, 18.4 per cent higher than the Rs 457.15 crore in the first quarter of the previous year. Profit After Tax before exceptional items grew by 28.4 per cent and the figures are not comparable, since the company had provisioned exceptional items worth Rs 17.84 crore in the same quarter of last year, said Mehernosh Kapadia, finance director.