Walgreens (WAG $42.23 -2.95) reported third quarter earnings of $0.66
per share, excluding $0.01 in restructuring charges, $0.03 better than the
Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.63.
Revenues rose 6.8% year/year to $18.37 billion versus the $18.32 billion
consensus.
Total sales in comparable stores increased 4.1% in the quarter, while front-end
comparable drugstore sales increased 3.9% in the quarter. Prescription sales,
which accounted for 65.1% of sales in the quarter, climbed 6.4%, while
prescription sales in comparable stores increased 4.1%.
"We saw healthy increases across our consumables, cough/cold, pain/sleep,
personal care and beauty categories, along with continued strength in our
private brand products as we delivered the combination of assortment,
accessibility and value relevant to our customers." Customer traffic in
comparable stores increased 1.7% for the third quarter, while basket size
increased 2.2%. "We are pleased with our very solid performance in the third
quarter as we were able to meet our financial goal of double-digit growth in
earnings per share... As fuel prices remain high, further stretching household
budgets, we serve as a convenient destination for health and daily living."






