Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor Oct 15, 2020,09:17am EDT
People wear protective face masks outside[+]
GETTY IMAGES
Walgreens Boots Alliance reported a $520 million “adverse
Covid-19 impact” in its fourth quarter as the global drugstore chain begins a
slow rebound during the pandemic.
Walgreens, which owns more than 21,000 stores around the world
in more than 25 countries, said net income fell nearly 45% to $373 million in
its fiscal 2020 fourth quarter ended Aug. 31 due to the surge of cases of
Covid-19 that caused customers to shelter in their homes and slow the global
economy. Fourth quarter sales increased 2% to $34.7 billion.
“The company estimates adverse Covid-19 impact of approximately
$520 million, or 34 percentage points of growth,” Walgreens said Thursday in its fiscal 2020 fourth quarter and annual earnings
report.
Though retail pharmacy sales in the U.S. were up in the quarter,
Walgreens saw a double-digit percentage drop in its retail pharmacy
international operation which has been a drag on earnings. Walgreens said U.S.
retail pharmacy sales rose 3.6% to $27 billion while international pharmacy
sales decreased nearly 15% to $2.3 billion.
“Despite uncertainty amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, we are
seeing gradual improvement in key U.S. and UK markets and continued strong
performance in our wholesale business,” Pessina said.
Still, Walgreens exceeded analysts’ earnings expectations in the
fourth quarter and the company said it expects a major comeback in fiscal 2021.
Walgreens projected “low single-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share” in
releasing its fiscal 2021 guidance.
“We are on our way to putting it behind us,” Pessina told analysts
on 70-minute call Thursday morning to discuss earnings. “We expect the first
half of the year to be challenging. But we are optimistic for a recovery in the
second half.”
No comments:
Post a Comment