By Denny Jacob

Walgreens Boots Alliance posted higher sales in its latest quarter on growth in retail-pharmacy sales in the U.S., in one of the last quarterly reports the company will publicly file ahead of its transition to a private company.

The pharmacy chain narrowed its loss to $2.85 billion, or $3.30 a share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 28, from $5.91 billion, or $6.85 a share, in the prior-year period.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings came in at 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 53 cents a share.

Sales rose to $38.59 billion from $37.05 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $38 billion.

The U.S. retail pharmacy segment rose 5.3% to $30.4 billion in the quarter from a year earlier, with pharmacy sales up 8.9% due to higher branded drug inflation and prescription volume, while retail sales decreased 5.5% on lower sales in discretionary categories including beauty, seasonal and general merchandise. The international segment edged up 0.6% to $6.1 billion from the year-ago quarter.

Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said the second-quarter results reflected cost management and improvement in the U.S. healthcare segment, though they were partially offset by weaker front-end results in U.S. retail pharmacy, while legal settlements resulted in continued negative free cash flow.

Walgreens withdrew its fiscal 2025 guidance given its pending deal to be acquired by Sycamore Partners.

Sycamore in March agreed to pay $11.45 a share in cash for Walgreens, representing an equity value of around $10 billion. The total value of the deal, including debt and potential future payouts, would be almost $24 billion. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

By Denny Jacob

Walgreens Boots Alliance posted higher sales in its latest quarter on growth in retail pharmacy sales in the U.S., one of the last quarterly results the company will report to the public ahead of its transition to a private company.

The pharmacy chain narrowed its loss to $2.85 billion, or $3.30 a share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 28, from $5.91 billion, or $6.85 a share, in the prior-year period.

Stripping out certain one-time items, earnings came in at 63 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 53 cents a share.

Sales rose to $38.59 billion from $37.05 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $37.97 billion.

The U.S. retail pharmacy segment rose 5.3% to $30.4 billion in the quarter from a year earlier, with pharmacy sales up 8.9% due to higher branded drug inflation and prescription volume while retail sales decreased 5.5% on lower sales in discretionary categories including beauty, seasonal and general merchandise. The international segment edged up 0.6% to $6.1 billion from the year-ago quarter.

Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said the second-quarter results reflected cost management and improvement in U.S. healthcare, though partially offset by weaker front-rend results in U.S. retail pharmacy, while legal settlements resulted in continued negative free cash flow.

Walgreens withdrew its fiscal 2025 guidance given its pending deal to be acquired by Sycamore Partners.

Sycamore in March agreed to pay $11.45 a share in cash for Walgreens, representing an equity value of around $10 billion. The total value of the deal, including debt and potential future payouts, would be almost $24 billion. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter.

The storied pharmacy chain sold everything from diabetes injections to nail files but fell after it neglected to keep up with customer preference to buy online as well as increasing competition in the healthcare sector.

It could shrink more after its sale. Sycamore, a New York-based firm that specializes in retail and consumer investments and, more recently, is better known for smaller deals, is expected to sell off pieces of the business or work with partners to turn it around, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2025 08:32 ET (12:32 GMT)

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