Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc posted a 55.2% slump in quarterly profit on Monday, hurt by charges related to a cost-cutting plan announced earlier this year.
Net income attributable to Walgreens fell to $677 million (€609.8 million), or 75 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, from $1.51 billion, or $1.55 per share, a year earlier.
Operating Income
Operating income in the quarter fell 30.3% to $700 million, owing to lower gross margin and a 16.1% impact from charges related to the cost-cut plan, the company said.
Revenue rose to $33.95 billion (€30.58 billion) from $33.44 billion.
Challenging Landscape
Commenting, executive vice chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said that the group's results weer in line with guidance, despite what he described as a "challenging" economic landscape.
"While we still face headwinds, I am encouraged by the improvement in U.S. comparable sales performance in the second half of fiscal 2019 and our progress in managing costs in order to save to invest to grow," he said.
"We are introducing guidance for fiscal 2020 adjusted earnings per share, which we expect will be roughly consistent with fiscal 2019 at constant currency rates - very much in line with our expectations.”
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
