The largest pharmaceutical company in Pakistan by far, GlaxoSmithKline Pakistan Limited (PSX: GLAXO) came into being in 2001, by the merger of SmithKline and French of Pakistan Limited, Beecham Pakistan (Private) Limited, and Glaxo Wellcome (Pakistan) Limited. Its legacy company, Glaxo Laboratories Pakistan Ltd, was in fact the first pharmaceutical company to be listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange in 1951. The multinational's market capitalisation today is a whopping Rs 72 billion.
GSK Pakistan operates mainly in two industry segments: pharmaceuticals (prescription drugs and vaccines) and consumer healthcare (over-the-counter-medicines, oral care, and nutritional care). The company boasts a diverse and profitable business of over 150 brands, and claims almost 10.3 percent of the value and over 17 percent of the volume-share of Pakistan's pharma market.
In March 2015, GSK completed a three-part transaction with Novartis. The company acquired Novartis' vaccines business (excluding influenza vaccines) and combined its consumer healthcare businesses to create a new company. In addition, Novartis acquired the company's oncology portfolio.
Stock and Pattern of Shareholding
GLAXO has clearly outperformed the KSE100 index by a significant margin. The stock remains buoyed by robust fundamentals and investor confidence, not to mention dividends.