LONDON, July 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday said 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 the UK and 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, while it is thought Washington could still take steps that would see medicines face a higher levy.

Despite the backdrop, GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley on Wednesday said the group expects to be "towards the top end of" its financial guidance for 2025 and remains "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 & inflammation, oncology and HIV," 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.

"The prognosis for GSK is looking positive," noted 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."

GSK shares gained 1.0 percent at the start of trading in London following the earnings update on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which opened flat overall.