Glaxo meets forecasts as profits rise 16%

GLAXOSMITHKLINE met forecasts with a 16% rise in 2006 profit yesterday and said a dip in growth this year as some old products go off patent would be less than feared.

Europe’s biggest drugmaker, employing 1,600 people in Ireland, said earnings per share at constant exchange rates were expected to rise between 8% and 10% in 2007, better than the low single-digit level many analysts had expected.

“Management guidance for 2007 was key and this has surprised on the upside,” said Keith Bowman, an equity analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.