Walgreen Posts Record Profit
Drugstore chain
Walgreen
(WAG)
reported a record second-quarter profit, driven by front-of-the-store and pharmacy sales, but it still missed analysts' expectations.
The Illinois-based chain had net income of $490.9 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with $431.6 million, or 42 cents a share, a year ago. Excluding gains from litigation settlements, earnings rose 15.1% to $487.9 million, or 47 cents a share, from last year's $423.8 million, or 41 cents a share.
Analysts expected earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $11.03 billion, according to Thomson First Call.
Revenue rose 12.3% to $10.9 billion, while same-store sales rose 7.7%.
"Our results benefited from continued solid execution at our stores, especially during the important holiday selling season," the company said. "Although the cold and flu season peaked later this year than the previous year, the overall effect on the quarter was fairly comparable."
Walgreen was recently down 73 cents, or 1.6%, to $45.50, in premarket trading.