By Ben Hirschler
LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline said onWednesday it would not be pushed into an early spin-off or saleof its consumer health business, despite speculation the unitcould be a target for the likes of Reckitt Benckiser orProcter & Gamble.
Britain's biggest drugmaker has forged a leadingnon-prescription consumer health business, with 2015 sales of 6billion pounds ($8.7 billion), following a complex asset swapwith Novartis that concluded last year.
Chief Executive Andrew Witty reiterated in a results callwith reporters that the creation of the consumer joint venture(JV) with Novartis, in which GSK has a controlling 63.5 percentstake, gave "optionality" for the future.
But he stressed GSK was only one year into a three-yearprocess of integrating Novartis' products and doubling theprofit margins at the business.
"It would be extremely unwise to do anything in anticipationof that," he said. "The chances of us doing something in anaccelerated time frame are, I think, extraordinarily low."
Even once the consumer operation is bedded down and runningat a "steady state", it was not obvious that GSK would be betteroff spinning it off, he added.
"If you were asking that question today, based on everythingI can see from an external environment, my recommendation wouldprobably be not to change the status quo. But obviously at adifferent date in the future you may come to a differentconclusion to that question," Witty said.
A spokeswoman for Reckitt declined to comment on itspotential interest in GSK's operations but said the company wasinterested in growing its consumer health business and looked atall opportunities where Reckitt could be a better owner.
Officials at Procter & Gamble declined to comment.
The consumer unit sells many successful brands, includingSensodyne toothpaste and a range of over-the-counter remedies,such as the painkillers Voltaren and Panadol. Novartis has anoption to sell its stake in the JV to GSK after three years.
GSK argues that building up its presence in suchlong-lasting consumer brands gives the drugmaker a more stableand sustainable earnings profile.
But in an era where many companies are breaking up toachieve greater focus, not all its shareholders agree with thestrategy.
The issue has been kept live by a high-profile call by NeilWoodford, founder of Woodford Investment Management, for GSK tobe split up.($1 = 0.6879 pounds) (Additional reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by ElaineHardcastle)