Pharmaceutical turnover down 3% to £5,553m and Consumer Healthcare sales up 4% to £1,260m.
Excluding pandemic products, group sales were level in the quarter. Excluding pandemic products and Avandia, group sales were up 2% in the quarter.
Operating profit before major restructuring for Q3 2010 was £2,129m, a 9% decline in CER terms, principally reflecting charges booked in Q3 2010 related to Avandia.
Cost of sales was 27.5% of turnover, higher than Q3 2009 at 25.6%, and included inventory and asset impairments and other costs of £77m related to Avandia.
Other operating income was £95m in the quarter, compared with £123m in the third quarter last year.
Operating profit after restructuring for Q3 2010 was £1,958m, down 10% CER and 5% in sterling terms.
GSK CEO Andrew Witty said that the company’s strategy to diversify business is generating sustained sales growth from investment areas such as Vaccines, Respiratory, Dermatology, Emerging Markets, Japan and Consumer Healthcare.
"Comparison to high pandemic product sales a year ago and continued sales declines of Avandia and Valtrex impacted our overall sales growth for the quarter. Excluding these three factors, Group sales growth was around 6% and it is worth noting that these particular headwinds will diminish rapidly over the next 12 months," Witty said.
"We are on track to deliver £2.2bn of annual restructuring savings by 2012 and now expect to realise certain savings in R&D earlier than expected.
"In conclusion, this third quarter marks another positive step forward in execution of our strategy and, despite the challenging environment we face, I remain confident that GSK’s outlook continues to improve and that we are well placed to deliver long-term growth and value for shareholders."