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The Board has declared a third interim dividend for 2021 of 19 pence per share (Q3 2020: 19 pence per share).
GSK recognises the importance of dividends to shareholders and aims to distribute regular dividend payments that will be determined primarily with reference to the free cash flow generated by the business after funding the investment necessary to support the Group's future growth.
The Board currently intends to maintain the dividend for 2021 at the current level of 80p per share, subject to any material change in the external environment or performance expectations.
At the New GSK Investor Update on 23 June GSK set out that from 2022 a progressive dividend policy will be implemented, guided by a 40 to 60 percent pay-out ratio through the investment cycle. This is a key part of the capital allocation framework. For 2022, for the first half of the year, GSK expects to declare a 27p dividend for the current group. GSK is on track to separate into two companies early in the second half of 2022. GSK expects the aggregate dividend, across the two new businesses to be 28p per share for the second half. In aggregate this would represent on a full year 2022 basis the equivalent of a Group dividend of 55p per share, representing a 31% decrease from the 80p/share dividend expected for 2021. This expected, aggregate 55p per share dividend for full year 2022 is comprised of 44p representing New GSK's policy, and an expected 11p from the Consumer Healthcare business. Dividend policy for the new Consumer Healthcare company will be set by its Board of Directors. In 2023, the first full year of standalone operations for New GSK, GSK expects to declare a full year dividend of 45p per share.
The ex-dividend date will be 18 November 2021, with a record date of 19 November 2021 and a payment date of 13 January 2022.
Ian.