Drugs giant GSK says net profits plummet in 2014

GLAXOSMITHKLINE’S net profits almost halved last year, hit partly by a large Chinese fine following a bribery probe, the British drugmaker said Wednesday.

Profit after tax dived to £2.76 billion ($4.20 billion, 3.67 billion euros) in 2014, compared with £5.436 billion a year earlier, GSK said in a results statement.

The 2013 performance was however skewed by the £1.3-billion sale of drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena to Japan’s Suntory Holdings.

GSK added that revenues declined three percent to £23 billion last year, hurt by “challenging” trade in the United States.

Legal costs more than doubled to £548 million in 2014, after Chinese authorities fined GSK 3.0 billion yuan last September after a nearly year-long bribery probe.

“Legal charges of £548 million included a £301 million fine paid to the Chinese government,” GSK saidon Wednesday.

The group also took a £750 million restructuring charge last year, up from £517 million in 2013.

GSK is seeking to move on from a damaging scandal, which resulted in a Chinese court fining the company over alleged bribery.

The firm’s former head of China operations, Mark Reilly, and four other ex-officials were given suspended sentences of between two and four years in prison.