Emma Walmsley is at the starting line. That may sound a churlish assessment of years of graft to get GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer products division fit for demerger this summer, but it’s roughly accurate. The “step-change in growth”, as the chief executive puts it, for the core pharmaceutical division has always been the main event and that race has barely started.
More generously, one can say it was an achievement to avoid stumbles during the warmup stages. Elliott Advisors, the noisy activist in the wings, ultimately proved only a minor distraction. Other shareholders showed no appetite for regime change and backed Walmsley and her strategy. The fact that Unilever put £50bn on the table for the consumer division vindicated the thesis that the Sensodyne-to-Panadol unit is a store of riches (even if the stock market still has to endorse that valuation). GSK’s share price has improved by a third since its sickly level of £12 a year ago.
