Avandia ruling to hit Glaxo results

Full-year results on Thursday from pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline are expected to be hit hard by multibillion-pound legal charges relating to its controversial diabetes drug Avandia.

Glaxo shocked the market earlier this month when it revealed a record fourth quarter impact of £2.2 billion in costs to settle legal disputes.

This comes after a £1.57 billion charge in the second quarter, which was announced in July, as Glaxo has faced lawsuits alleging the drug harms health, in particular that it increases the risk of heart attack.

Shares in Glaxo, which has its headquarters in Brentford, Middlesex, have slumped to levels not seen for five months since the news, as investors have digested the likely impact on Glaxo’s results.

Most analysts are now expecting pre-tax profits to have almost halved to £4.6 billion in 2010, down from £8.7 billion in 2009, due to the legal costs but sales are forecast to have held firm at £28.4 billion.

Meanwhile, upmarket online retailer Ocado reports its maiden set of full-year figures on Tuesday since listing on the stock market last July.

The Hatfield-based group, which has a delivery deal with Waitrose, had a rocky start to life as a public company but shares have staged a remarkable rally in recent weeks following persistent takeover talk, with speculation suggesting it could be in the sights of supermarket Morrisons.

Analysts are not expecting a profit in Tuesday’s figures with most pencilling in pre-tax losses of around £9.7 million, but many are hopeful it will turn the corner in the first half of this financial year at the operating level.

Separately, Ryanair, which reports third-quarter figures on Monday, is not expected to have been as badly affected by the snow and European strikes as easyJet, which revealed a £31 million hit, though experts are still pencilling in a sizeable impact – Citigroup analysts estimate 15 million euro (£12.9 million) in lost profit and revenues, while Deutsche Bank experts believe it could be as high as 35 million euro (£30.1 million).

The impact is expected to see third-quarter losses widen to 25 million euro (£21.5 million) against 11 million euros (£9.5 million) a year earlier, according to Citi, while full-year forecasts have also come down as a result and Ryanair may trim its guidance from the previous range of 380 million euro to 400 million euro.