Glaxo's Q4 Earnings Mostly In-line, Shares Up on '07 Prospects

GlaxoSmithKline's shares are up 1.7% in London following its Q4 and full-year earnings release which were in-line with analyst expectations. The stock is moving on '07 guidance that was higher than some analysts' forecasts and on news it plans to launch five major new pharmaceutical products this year. Q4 net income rose 5.3% to £1.18 billion ($2.32b) on a 0.9% increase in revenues to £5.96b (note: at constant exchange rates sales were up 9%). Full year earnings for 2007 are seen growing between 8% - 10% at constant exchange rates. Glaxo said it plans to begin patient trials of a proposed bird-flu vaccine in N. America during Q2. Its NYSE listed shares lost 0.4% yesterday to $55.35, but are trading up about 1.5% to $56.17 in pre-market activity.

Sources: GlaxoSmithKline IR website, The Wall Street Journal
Commentary: 'Bird Flu' Remains as Serious a Threat as Ever • Betting Big on Anti-Smoking Trend • Searching for Value Investments in the Drug Stock Universe
Stocks/ETFs to watch: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Competitors: Pfizer (PFE), Novartis (NVS), Sanofi-Aventis (SNY). ETFs: iShares S&P Global Healthcare (IXJ), Europe 2001 HOLDRs (EKH), BLDRS Europe 100 ADR Index (ADRU), iShares S&P Europe 350 Index (IEV), iShares MSCI United Kingdom Index (EWU)

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