* Q2 adjusted earnings, forecast beat
* GSK boosted by record shingles vaccine sales
* Haleon sees H1 revenue growth of over 13% (Adds CEO comment from conference call; details)
By Natalie Grover
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Days after carving out its consumer health business, a slimmed down GSK delivered a strong second-quarter performance on Wednesday, boosting its full-year forecast as demand for its blockbuster shingles vaccine rebounded.
After years of underperformance relative to its peers and missing out on the lucrative market for the first set of COVID-19 vaccines, GSK has ushered in a new era of focus on vaccines and prescription drugs, with the wind in its sails.
Having survived a protracted revolt by activist investors Elliott and Bluebell last year, investor faith in so-called New GSK's prospects has been boosted by clinical trial success for a potential blockbuster RSV vaccine, M&A activity, and a share price that has climbed despite weak stock markets.
On Wednesday, GSK said it now expects 2022 sales to rise 6% to 8% and adjusted operating profit to increase by 13% to 15%, excluding any contributions from the company's COVID-19 solutions business.
Previously, the company had forecast full-year sales to grow 5% to 7% and adjusted operating profit to rise 12% to 14%.
The upgrade reflected a strong beat in adjusted quarterly earnings and revenue, compared with a GSK-compiled consensus https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/investors/analyst-consensus/analyst-consensus estimate.
The performance was driven by better than expected sales in specialty care, general medicines and vaccines, Barclays analysts wrote in a note.
Particularly, GSK's shingles vaccine Shingrix generated 731 million pounds, well ahead of the GSK-compiled consensus estimate of 610 million pounds, as healthcare systems started to move beyond governments' prioritisation of COVID vaccination programmes.
"The leaner organization is more nimble than expected," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laura Hoy added.
As a result of the spin-off of the consumer health business, Haleon, GSK is getting 7 billion pounds of financial firepower, which it will tap to further invest in M&A, GSK CEO Emma Walmsley said.
INFLATION
In a post-earnings conference call, Walmsley said GSK is somewhat insulated from the impact of rising inflation given its main vaccines division is protected by multiple supply chain options and benefits from forward-buying.
GSK is part of an industry that falls in the 'essentials' category, she said, "that doesn't mean we're immune from it."