Stock Spotlight: Haleon spinout boosts GSK but firm remains dependant on pipeline

Demerger set to strengthen balance sheet

GlaxoSmithKline shares have performed well off the back of the defensive attractions of its sector and improved sentiment around the stock after separating from its consumer health business. However, a lack of balance sheet flexibility and a pipeline of dependent variables means challenges await the drug giant.

In the 20 years since SmithKline Beecham merged with Glaxo Wellcome, pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has underperformed in all areas except dividends. But after years of underdelivering relative to peers and failing to bring a Covid-19 vaccine to market during the pandemic, the stock could be heading for relief as it joins a growing cohort of pharma names spinning out their consumer health arms, reversing the merger frenzy that defined the sector in the 1990s. A year on from GSK announcing its intention to separate its consumer healthcare business from the wider GSK group, the much...