GlaxoSmithKline Plc reported higher sales in the second quarter and first half year, along with a better operating profit, despite price pressure on its respiratory division where the asthma medicine Advair faced generic competition for the first time. Sales in the second quarter were £7.8 billion, up by 7%, and in the first half they were £15.5 billion, up by 6%. Meanwhile operating profit, adjusted to exclude amortisation and restructuring costs, was £2.2 billion in the second quarter, up by 3% and £4.3 billion in the first half, up by 8%.
