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Bloomberg
GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it will carve out its consumer unit via a spinoff and cut its dividend by about 30% as Chief Executive Officer Emma Walmsley seeks to revive the pharma giant’s lagging drug business.
The UK company will list the unit in mid-2022 on the London Stock Exchange, Glaxo said in a statement Wednesday, before a key investor meeting where it will face questions on the plans.
The dividend cut to 55 pence in 2022 — an aggregate number that includes some contribution from the consumer business — marks the first drop in Glaxo’s annual payout in 20 years. The payment will be 45 pence in 2023 after the split.
The moves are part of a strategy set out in 2018 to sharpen the company’s focus on developing drugs for cancer, HIV and other diseases. Over the next five years, “New GSK†— the biopharmaceutical and vaccines business that will be left behind after the spinoff — expects to deliver annual sales growth and adjusted operating profit growth of more than 5% and more than 10%, respectively, according to the statement.