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| GSK mulls sale of Horlicks in the UK | GSK mulls sale of Horlicks in the UK |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Pharmaceuticals giant GSK is considering selling off its Horlicks business, the BBC understands. | Pharmaceuticals giant GSK is considering selling off its Horlicks business, the BBC understands. |
| GSK wants to sell the Horlicks business in the UK, where it is marketed as a bedtime drink. | GSK wants to sell the Horlicks business in the UK, where it is marketed as a bedtime drink. |
| The company wants to keep the Horlicks business in India where it marketed as a nutritional drink to children and has seen strong growth. | The company wants to keep the Horlicks business in India where it marketed as a nutritional drink to children and has seen strong growth. |
| A sale would be the first major move by chief executive Emma Walmsley who succeeded Sir Andrew Witty in April. | A sale would be the first major move by chief executive Emma Walmsley who succeeded Sir Andrew Witty in April. |
| Earlier this year, when revealing her first set of results as GSK's boss, Ms Walmsley said that she wanted to prioritise GSK's drugs business. | Earlier this year, when revealing her first set of results as GSK's boss, Ms Walmsley said that she wanted to prioritise GSK's drugs business. |
| "I want to make that more at the heart of where we spend our leadership time and what we spend our time talking about," she said at the time. | "I want to make that more at the heart of where we spend our leadership time and what we spend our time talking about," she said at the time. |
| The drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with | |
| Pharmaceuticals make up the bulk of GSK's revenue, accounting for £16.1bn of a total £27.8bn in annual sales. | |
| The Horlicks brand, which is more than 100 years old, is housed within the consumer healthcare division, which Ms Walmsley led prior to taking over the top job at GSK, and it generated £7.2bn in sales over 2016. | The Horlicks brand, which is more than 100 years old, is housed within the consumer healthcare division, which Ms Walmsley led prior to taking over the top job at GSK, and it generated £7.2bn in sales over 2016. |
| Although Horlicks is popular in India, GSK noted when it announced its full year figures there had been a general slowing of the health food drink category in the country "which impacted the performance of the nutrition category and Horlicks in particular". | Although Horlicks is popular in India, GSK noted when it announced its full year figures there had been a general slowing of the health food drink category in the country "which impacted the performance of the nutrition category and Horlicks in particular". |
| This continued in the first quarter of the year. | This continued in the first quarter of the year. |