Andrew P. Witty - GlaxoSmithKline Plc
Management
Thank you very much. Good afternoon and welcome to this call for GSK's Full Year 2016 Results. I'm pleased to report that sales and profits were up in all three of our businesses, Pharmaceutical, Vaccine, and Consumer Healthcare. Total group sales were £27.9 billion, up 6% CER. And core EPS was at £1.024, up 12% CER. This was towards the top end of our financial guidance. which as you know we increased during the year. In sterling terms core EPS was up was 35%, reflecting a significant movement in the currency in 2016. And if sterling rates were to remain in line with January average rate for the rest of 2017, we would expect a 9% benefit to core EPS during the year. Total EPS for the group was £0.188, down on last year primarily as a consequence of the comparative to the £9.2 billion gain in the Novartis transaction during 2015. We've declared a dividend £0.23 for the quarter, bringing a total dividend of £0.80 for 2016. And we continue to expect to pay a dividend of £0.80 for 2017. The positive momentum we saw in 2016 delivered Pharmaceutical sales of £16.1 billion, up 3%; Vaccine sales of £4.6 billion, up 14%; and Consumer Healthcare of £7.2 billion, up 9%. On a pro forma basis sales growth was respectively +4%, +12%, and +5%. On a geographic basis U.S. accounted for £10 billion, Europe £7.5 billion, and international, £10 billion. Operating margins also improved in all three businesses, reflecting good cost control and delivery of organic and transaction related savings with a group core profit margin of 27.9%, up 3.9 points on last year. These performances reflect the investments we've made to build scale and sustainability in the group and to deliver new products. Sales of the 11 Pharmaceutical and…