GSK's turnaround will hinge on whether the drugs really do work

Sir Andrew Witty is hoping to hold off calls for the company to break up - strong 2015 sales won't have done his case any harm

GlaxoSmithKline's chief executive, Sir Andrew Witty, won't easily silence the calls for a breakup of the out-of-fashion pharmaceuticals, vaccines and toothpaste giant - but the company's decent finish to 2015 should buy him some time to move at his own pace.

Underlying earnings per share of 75.7p for 2015 didn't cover the 80p dividend, but the reinvention of GSK was always going to be the work of several years. Witty was able to promise that new pharma products, meaning those launched over the past three years, will achieve 6bn of sales in 2018, two years ahead of the original target. Breo, the drug that will lead the defence of the respiratory territory when fading blockbuster Advair is hit by generic competition in the US, has overcome its slow start. So far, so good.