DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5

Walgreens Reports 68% Profit Surge On Strong Pharmacy, Retail Sales

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Walgreens Reports 68% Profit Surge On Strong Pharmacy, Retail Sales

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc reported a 68% surge in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday due to higher sales at its pharmacy stores in the United States and the United Kingdom, as COVID-19 restrictions eased in the quarter.

Walgreens, one of the largest US pharmacies, has also been registering higher sales from administering COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots as Delta variant cases surged during the quarter.

Shares in the Deerfield, Illinois-based company, one of the largest US pharmacies, rose 1.6% to $48 premarket.

As of 31 August, Walgreens had administered more than 40 million COVID-19 vaccines, of the total 370.2 million shots administered in the United States.

In July, Walgreens Boots Alliance raised its 2021 adjusted profit growth forecast, buoyed by strength in drug sales and COVID-19 vaccine administrations as same-store sales at its US pharmacies rose 6.4% in the third quarter as it filled 312.1 million prescriptions.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fourth-Quarter Sales

Same-store sales at its US pharmacies rose 8.8% in the fourth quarter, which included a 485 basis point boost from COVID-19 vaccinations, the company said. Walgreens filled 313 million prescriptions during the quarter.

Net income attributable to the company was $627 million (€540 million), or 72 cents per share, for the quarter ended 31 August, compared with a profit of $373 million (€321.3 million), or 43 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $34.26 billion (€29.5 billion) from $30.37 billion (€26.2 billion).

Excluding items, the company earned $1.17 per share, compared with Refinitiv IBES estimates of $1.02 per share.

ADVERTISEMENT

In September, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said it would raise the minimum wage of all its staff to $15 an hour from October, as the drugstore chain joins several US firms in trying to retain and lure more people back to work.

News by Reuters, edited by ESM. For more A-Brands stores, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.