Just over half of GSK's total revenue was earned in the United States during the second quarter (JUSTIN TALLIS)

British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday that its annual performance should be better than expected, despite US tariffs, after sales of its cancer drugs jumped in the second quarter.

GSK, which makes medicines in the European Union as well as in Britain and the United States, said its guidance took into account "the European tariffs indicated this week".

The EU-US trade deal reached at the weekend set a 15 percent tariff on most European Union goods imported into the United States, though it is thought that Washington could still take steps that would see medicines face a higher levy.

Despite the backdrop, GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley said the group expected to be "towards the top end of" its financial guidance for 2025 and remained "confident" over the longer term.

"GSK's strong momentum in 2025 continues with another quarter of excellent performance driven mainly by specialty medicines, our largest business, with double-digit sales growth in respiratory, immunology and inflammation, oncology and HIV," she added in a statement.

Addressing an online press conference later Wednesday, Walmsley said GSK was "very well positioned" to increasingly supply the United States, its "number one priority market", from within the country.

"Our overall planned investment in the US is in the tens of billions of dollars over the next five years," she added.

The company said net profit jumped 23 percent to £1.44 billion ($1.92 billion) in the three months to the end of June compared with the second quarter in 2024.

Group sales increased one percent to £8 billion, helped by a 36 percent increase in cancer treatments that offset falls for other drugs, including for influenza.

Just over half of total revenue was earned in the US market during the second quarter.

"The prognosis for GSK is looking positive," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"It hasn't let itself get too distracted by tariff uncertainty, with both second-quarter sales and earnings coming in ahead of market forecasts," he said.

GSK shares advanced 1.0 percent in afternoon deals on the London stock exchange, bucking a downward trend on the benchmark FTSE 100 index.

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