Walgreens booked a better-than-expected financial first quarter, but the drugstore chain lost $265 million as it closed U.S. stores and continued work to revive its business.
The corporation, beset by shrinking prescription reimbursement, rising costs and other problems, had announced in announced in October a schedule to close around 1,200 locations.
Walgreens said Friday that higher costs from that schedule were the main factor behind its quarterly setback.
The corporation didn’t specific how many stores it has closed. The chain has already shed about a thousand U.S. stores since it grew to nearly 9,500 after buying some Rite Aid locations in 2018.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. also runs nearly 3,700 international stores, with locations in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Thailand and Ireland.
CEO Tim Wentworth said in a statement that the corporation is also working in 2025 on controlling costs and improving liquid assets flow and prescription reimbursement.
“While our turnaround will receive period, our early advancement reinforces our conviction in a sustainable, retail pharmacy-led operating model,” he said.
In the financial first quarter, Walgreens recorded adjusted returns per distribute of 51 cents. That excludes store closing costs. The corporation’s turnover grew 7.5% to $39.5 billion.
Analysts expected returns of 38 cents per distribute on $37.4 billion in sales, according to FactSet.
Sales from the corporation’s main business, established U.S. retail pharmacies, grew more than 8%, helped by a jump in prescriptions. That countered a drop in sales for the retail area outside store pharmacies due partly to a weaker cough, cold and flu period.
The corporation also saw growth from a U.S. health worry business it has been scaling back.
Walgreens also said Friday that it was reaffirming a approximate it made in October for financial 2025 adjusted returns per distribute ranging between $1.40 and $1.80.
Analysts approximate returns of $1.52 distribute.
Shares of the Deerfield, Illinois, corporation climbed in early morning buying and selling Friday, which marks a better commence than the stake had last year.
Walgreens began 2024 by cutting the quarterly payout it pays shareholders nearly in half in order to strengthen its settlement sheet and free up liquid assets.
A month later, Walgreens was bounced from the Dow Jones Industrial Average only a few years after joining it.
Walgreens shares plunged at the commence of 2024 and never recovered. The stake shed around two-thirds of its worth during the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, climbed about 13%.
On Friday, Walgreens shares climbed more than 16% to $10.71 in premarket buying and selling.
