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3 February 2021 By Aimee Donnellan Follow @aimeedonnellan

The $89 bln health group is pressing on with a plan to spin off its consumer drugs unit. But its shares are depressed by slow growth and competition in the core pharma division, requiring risky investment and M&A. A dividend chop at least gives CEO Emma Walmsley some elbow room.

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British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline on Feb. 3 said turnover for the fourth quarter of 2020 fell 2% year-on-year to 8.74 billion pounds.

The Brentford-based company said its pharmaceutical and vaccines business will see flat to low single-digit percent growth in 2021, while the consumer drugs unit will grow in the low to mid-single digit percent range.

GSK plans to spin off its consumer drugs division in 2022. The group said that its dividend for 2021 would be unchanged at 80 pence per share, while the payout in 2022 would in aggregate be lower.

Shares in GSK fell 4% to 13.13 pounds by 1120 GMT on Feb. 3.

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