Strong Sterling Hits 3rd Qtr Profits At SB

Anglo-American drugmaker SmithKline Beecham has announced pretaxprofits of L385 million ($627 million) for the third quarter ended September 30, 1997, an increase of 3% on the corresponding period last year. Excluding the continued strength of sterling against most currencies, profits would have jumped 14% to L427 million for the quarter. Similarly affected, sales for the period fell 3% to L1.92 billion.

The impact of currency was evident in SB's nine-month figures, with pretax profits rising 5% to L1.2 billion. Sales decreased 2% to L5.6 billion, compared to the same period a year ago.

Pharmaceuticals Drive Growth Chief executive Jan Leschly said that there was a "strong underlying performance" driven again by pharmaceutical turnover, which grew 16% (excluding Diversified) to L1.09 billion. US drug sales rose 21%, with Paxil (paroxetine) and Augmentin (Co-amoxiclav) the major contributors, posting increases of 40% and 36%, respectively.