GlaxoSmithKline has gone in reverse after it announced third quarter results slightly below market expectations.
Its shares, which touched £12.67 earlier, are now down 10.5p at £12.46. The company said third quarter revenues rose 15% while earnings per share was up 13%, just below forecasts.
Sales were boosted by flu drug Relenza, which made up for losses to generic competition in other products, while the company is expecting a big boost in the final quarter from its swine flu vaccine. So far it has taken orders for 440m doses of its H1N1 vaccine, and it is happy with market estimates of £1bn worth of sales of the vaccine in the fourth quarter.
