A person walks near a Walgreens pharmacy on March 09, 2023 in Recent York City.
Leonardo Munoz | Corbis News | Getty Images
Walgreens Boots Alliance on Tuesday said its quarterly profit declined greater than 20%, driven by sharply lower Covid vaccine volumes and test sales in comparison with last winter, when the Covid Omicron variant surge drove strong demand.
Revenue, nonetheless, got here in higher than Wall Street’s expectations, rising 3.3% 12 months over 12 months.
Listed below are Walgreens’ results for the quarter ended Feb. 28, in comparison with estimates from analysts polled by Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: $1.16, adjusted, vs. $1.10 expected
- Revenue: $34.86 billion, vs. $33.53 billion expected
The pharmacy chain and health care company reported a net profit of $703 million, or 81 cents a share, in comparison with $883 million, or $1.02 a share, in the identical quarter a 12 months ago. Excluding certain items, per-share earnings were $1.16 for the period.
Operating income fell to almost $200 million from greater than $1.2 billion a 12 months earlier, reflecting a $306 million pre-tax charge for opioid litigation claims, higher investments in pharmacy wages and costs related to its $3.5 billion investment within the acquisition of Summit Health.
Under CEO Rosalind Brewer, now in her second 12 months, Walgreens has focused on growing the corporate’s health unit primary care and in-home services. In the course of the quarter, Walgreens invested $3.5 billion toward VillageMD’s acquisition of primary care provider Summit Health.
Health care unit revenues topped $1.6 billion within the quarter, with primary care services growing 30% at VilliageMD, including Summit Health, while home care at CareCentrix was up 25%.
“With the closing of VillageMD’s acquisition of Summit Health, WBA is now one in all the most important players in primary care,” Brewer said in the corporate’s earnings release. “WBA exited a solid second quarter with Acceleration in February, adding to confidence in driving strong growth within the second half of the 12 months.”
Walgreens reaffirmed its full 12 months earnings guidance of $4.45 to $4.65 per share, projecting adjusted earnings growth of mid-20% over the following two quarters.
More U.S. stores boost hours
Walgreens’ U.S. retail pharmacy segment had revenues of $27.6 billion within the quarter, down 0.3% from a 12 months ago. Nonetheless, comparable pharmacy prescription sales were up 4.9%, driven by higher prices on brand name drugs.
Pharmacy prescription volume was 3.5%, excluding vaccines. Walgreens said it made progress on easing pharmacy staff shortages, helping the corporate return 500 stores to normal pharmacy operating hours, roughly 1900 stores remain under shorter hours of operation.
Comparable sales within the front of store were down 1% from a 12 months ago, driven by much lower sales of over-the-counter Covid tests.
The international segment’s sales rose more 1.5% 12 months over 12 months to $5.7 billion, despite currency headwinds. Boots UK comparable retail sales rose 16% from a 12 months ago, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of market share gains.
