2024 Revenues ($USD) : $40.10B

GSK plc had brisk growth in 2024, clocking in total sales of £31.4 billion, a solid 7% bump at constant exchange rates (CER).

The real story was in specialty medicines, which shot up 19% CER. Digging into that, hiv treatments climbed 13%, oncology nearly doubled with a 98% surge, and respiratory/immunology added a healthy 13%.

It wasn't all smooth sailing, though. Its vaccines division slipped 4% CER. While the stalwart Shingrix edged up 1%, Arexvy sales took a big 51% hit, dragging the unit down. Over in General Medicines, things looked better with a 6% CER gain, helped quite a bit by Trelegy's 27% jump.

On the profit side, the core numbers looked decent: core operating profit was up 11% CER and core Earnings Per Share (EPS) grew 10%. Cash flow wasn't bad either, generating £7.9 billion from operations leading to £3 billion in free cash flow. But – and it's a big but – the reported bottom line took a hammering. Total operating profit and total EPS cratered (down 33% and 40% AER respectively), mostly thanks to booking a hefty £1.8 billion charge for settling Zantac lawsuits.

Looking ahead, there were some interesting developments early in 2025. They snagged U.S. FDA approval for Blujepa (gepotidacin) – getting attention as the first new class of oral antibiotic for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (uutis) in quite some time. GSK also kicked off a new dementia research tie-up with key UK institutes.

For 2025, management is guiding for turnover to grow 3–5% CER, with core operating profit and core EPS expected to climb 6-8%, helped partly by planned share buybacks. Shareholders got 61p per share for the full 2024 year, are pencilled in for 64p in 2025, and the company's launching a £2 billion share buyback over the next 18 months.

The pipeline's looking busy too, with 71 assets reported in clinical development for specialty meds and vaccines, including 19 in Phase III or heading for registration. They're betting on five major new product approvals landing in 2025, name-checking Blenrep (back in the hunt for multiple myeloma) and depemokimab for severe asthma, alongside updates across its key respiratory, oncology, and HIV franchises.