We’re here to stay, declares GSK boss Walmsley: Pharma giant bucks London exodus trend

The boss of GSK said the pharma giant has no intention of leaving the London stock market despite recent defections from the exchange.

In a welcome vote of confidence in the City, Emma Walmsley said the group was ‘very happy where we are’.

That was a much-needed boost for the Square Mile amid growing concerns that major corporations are ditching London in favour of New York.

Gambling giant Flutter this week said it was hoping to switch its main listing to New York, which would follow the launch of a secondary listing on Wall Street, and would see the Paddy Power owner leave the FTSE 100.

And the Square Mile was snubbed last year when Cambridge chip designer Arm floated in New York, resisting calls from UK politicians to list in London.

Despite the setbacks, there have been glimmers of hope this year.

Several fresh stock exchange listings are in the pipeline following a quiet 2023.

Computer firm Raspberry Pi is preparing for a London listing having hired bankers from Peel Hunt and Jefferies.

Kazakh carrier Air Astana, which is 49 per cent-owned by BAE Systems, will float in London this month, aiming to raise £120million. 

And new tourist attraction London Tunnels announced its intention to list its shares last month. Walmsley said GSK, which has a secondary listing in the US, is ‘very committed’ to the UK.

The pharma boss said she is a ‘great optimist’ about the country and GSK’s outlook was ‘getting stronger all the time.’

It upgraded its growth forecasts following a strong 2023 in which new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Arexvy raked in over £1billion in sales. 

So far, GSK has massively outstripped the performance of competitor Pfizer’s rival vaccine, administering two-thirds of all RSV jabs in the US.

Arexvy’s success helped to boost sales by 5 per cent to £30.3billion in 2023, while operating profit hit £8.8billion – a 12 per cent jump compared to the previous year.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: ‘GSK has delivered a reminder that it remains a serious player on the global stage.’

GSK’s update was the first full-year results since it spun off its consumer healthcare arm Haleon to focus on vaccine and drug developments.

It expects turnover growth of between 5 per cent to 7 per cent this year and operating profit to increase by 7 per cent to 10 per cent, and increased guidance for 2031 by £5billion from £33billion to £38 billion.

Growth will come from new products, with at least 12 major products from 2025 onwards.