GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK), one of the region's key employers, has reported a pre-tax loss of £416m compared with a profit of £531m for the same period in 2014.

Sales rose 2 per cent to £6.29bn in the quarter, slightly better than analysts had expected for the firm, which employs about 1,000 people at its plant in Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Sales of new drugs helped to compensate for declines in older medicines.

New treatments for HIV, respiratory conditions and meningitis vaccines reported sales of £682m in the quarter.

The total for 2015 as a whole was £2bn, prompting GSK to say it expected to reach its £6bn target for new product sales by 2018 - two years earlier than expected.

Sales of the older Advair respiratory medicine continued to fall and have hit profits, as did last year's £14bn asset swap with Novartis.

That deal increased the company's exposure to consumer healthcare at the expense of higher-margin pharmaceuticals.

Chief executive Sir Andrew Witty believed the shift would create a sustainable and less volatile business, but some investors have called for a sale of the non-prescription consumer healthcare business.

He has not ruled out such a move, but is seeking to increase margins in the division, which operates as a GSK-controlled joint venture with Novartis.