there seems to be some heavy resistance around these level with a lot of potential upside.

Director Buys.

Well MR Witty and Bicknell appear confident.

Excellent cash generation encourages me to believe that the dividend is safe for the foreseeable future and sure as hell beats bank deposit rates. Have held for many years in PEP/ISA, occasionally top slicing or adding some more and still I believe a solid long term performer, but always DYOR.

Excellent write up in The Sunday Telegraph, which includes an interview with Andrew Witty.

GlaxoSmithKline to shed 380 research jobs in Harlow

Ex div today?

Yes!

Business newswire obviously have their ear to the ground.

Pharmaceutical heavyweight GlaxoSmithKline was a major casualty, down 17p at 1,201.5p after yesterday's announcement that it plans to close a research unit in Essex.

No mention of the share being ex div today, which to me was the real reason.

8p div i think, not worth the drop in sp which can happen. was lucky with IMT.

BB - 18p Dividend.

The drop was about the same percentage as the dividend of 18p, so yesterdays loss meant a static price. As the yield on the total years divi is 5.06%, one of the best in the market, coupled with the strength of the company and its future prospects, I consider Glaxo to be one of the safest (including the div) companies on the market.

Hear Hear!

i stand corrected..BB

Galapagos Identifies New Candidate Drug For Arthritis

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)
Belgian drug discovery company Galapagos NV (GLPG.BT) Monday said it has successfully identified a third candidate drug in its arthritis alliance with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The company also reached milestones for other compounds in the alliance, which trigger cash payments totaling EUR5.7 million to Galapagos.

MAIN FACTS:

-This latest preclinical candidate is a small molecule that meets all the chemical and biological criteria set by GSK for a potential new medicine. Galapagos developed the candidate against a novel drug target from its proprietary platform. Galapagos will now start scale-up chemistry and comprehensive safety evaluation, with the aim to initiate Phase I clinical trials early 2011.

We know this paragraph.
The US Food and Drug Administration is reviewing data on possible heart risks with GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia but has not reached any new conclusions, the agency said on Monday.

But I didn't know this (Did I miss it earlier).
The FDA will hold a public meeting in July 2010 to discuss the risks and benefits of the drug, but said in the meantime doctors and patients should continue to use Avandia as directed.

So Avandia is in limbo till at least July.
All the evidence for and against is out there so why the 5 month delay.

Jobs-worthies, justifying their existence!

Sold out today. Not because I have lost confidence in GSK, but feel the market as a whole is in for a double dip due to the financial situation being worse than it looks on the surface. Mainly the PIGS situation and the world finances in general.
So probably won't post again on here for a while, but will continue to watch/read with interest.
Good luck to all still in.

Notifiable Share Interest in JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Limited

GlaxoSmithKline plc ("GSK") announces that, on 26 March 2010, GSK exercised
stock acquisition rights at an exercise price of JPY650 per share to acquire
1,560,000 Common shares of JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Limited ("JCR"), a
pharmaceutical company located in Japan and whose shares are traded on the Osaka
Stock Exchange. The details of this transaction have been disclosed in an
announcement issued by JCR to the Osaka Stock Exchange on 26 March 2010.

Following this transaction, GSK's interest, which is held by its wholly owned
subsidiary, Glaxo Group Limited, has increased from 12.05% to 16.73% of the
outstanding Common shares of JCR, making GSK the largest shareholder of JCR.
GSK's total holding represents 16.92% of the total voting rights in JCR. The
details of this transaction have been disclosed in an announcement issued by JCR
to the Osaka Stock Exchange on 26 March 2010.

1st Quarter results.

GlaxoSmithKline 1Q Net Profit +17, Beats Views
By Sten Stovall
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) Wednesday beat forecasts with a 17% rise in first-quarter net profit, boosted by sales of its pandemic flu and hepatitis vaccines, its top selling asthma treatment Advair and newer medicines like breast cancer pill Tykerb, as well as further expansion in emerging markets.

Andrew Witty, Glaxo's chief executive officer, said in a statement: "Our sales growth is multi-sourced with good performances in our Pharmaceuticals business, driven by vaccines, respiratory and dermatology products and in our Consumer Healthcare business. In all of these areas, sales were especially dynamic across emerging markets where we continue to gain market share."

GlaxoSmithKline no longer provides a specific numerical outlook.

In the three months to March 31, net profit rose to GBP1.56 billion from GBP1.33 billion in the same period a year earlier. A poll of nine analysts had foreseen net profit rising to GBP1.51 billion.

Sales climbed 8.7% to GBP7.36 billion, beating analyst forecasts of GBP7.28 billion for the latest quarter.

Earnings per share for the first quarter before major restructuring increased 16% from a year earlier, to 30.7 pence.

Glaxo shares rose after the update and, at 1119 GMT, were trading up 1.4% or 17p at 1,231 pence, in a lower London market. The stock has gained around 15% in value over the last 12 months.

GlaxoSmithKline, unlike many of its rivals, has already undergone the bulk of its patent expiries. Under CEO Witty, the company has diversified itself via revamps and acquisitions and is now emerging strongly with a solid pipeline--led by its new autoimmune disease drug Benlysta--and is increasingly focused on growth, particularly in emerging markets and Japan.

Final Results.

Unaudited Preliminary Results Announcement for the year ended 31st December 2010

Strategic progress drives positive underlying sales growth*,
increasing pipeline potential and improved cash generation

Increased dividend and new long-term share buy-back
programme enhance returns to shareholders

EU agency concerned by narcolepsy link to GSK shot

Reuters) - European drugs regulators are continuing a safety review of GlaxoSmithKline's H1N1 flu vaccine Pandemrix and said on Friday they were concerned by further reports of possible links to narcolepsy, a rare sleep disorder.

News from another sector that is arguably undervalued pharmaceutical company Glaxosmithkline report on their third-quarter performances on Wednesday .

Has been out of favour, due to a number of drugs reaching the ends of their patent lives, fears of slowdowns in development pipelines, and increasing competition from developing countries -- although GlaxoSmithKline shares have staged something of a recovery in recent months.

Glaxo shares, at just under 14, on a forward P/E of 12 and offering a 5% yield.