GlaxoSmithKline has been pulling cash out of some eurozone countries in case the debt crisis takes a turn for the worse. Speaking at the drugmaker’s annual results presentation in London, the recently knighted chief executive Sir Andrew Witty said in the past year the company had been withdrawing “tens of millions of pounds” from “most of the eurozone” – excluding Germany. “You don’t have money in banks you’re nervous about,” he explained. Some of that money is being used to pay dividends to shareholders, which rose more than expected, by 8% to 70p a share (plus 5p related to the sale of the North American over-the-counter brands).
