The US owner of the Boots chain has reported a jump in quarterly profits as it reaped the benefits of cost-cutting.
Boots is part of Walgreens Boots Alliance, based in Illinois. It posted net earnings of $1bn in the three months to 31 August, its fourth quarter, up sharply from $26m (£21m) a year earlier. Sales increased 0.4% to $28.6bn, and were up 2.5% on a constant currency basis. The results were better than expected.
Over the year as a whole, net earnings edged down 1.1% to $4.2bn, while sales climbed 13.4% to $117.4bn.
The US company said it was on track to deliver $1.5bn in cost savings by the end of 2017, following a three-year restructuring programme. In the UK, it has pushed through several rounds of redundancies to cut costs at its larger stores, cutting 350 assistant manager roles and 700 office jobs in the past year. It employs about 60,000 people in Britain.
The 2014 merger of Walgreens and Alliance Boots created the largest chemist chain in the US and one of the biggest retailers in the world.
Chief executive Stefano Pessina, an Italian billionaire known for his dealmaking and quiet lifestyle, said: “We have continued to make good progress in putting in place the building blocks for the future growth of the business.”
The company now expects its acquisition of Pennsylania-based drugstore chain Rite Aid Corporation, which was unveiled a year ago, to be completed early next year. The US regulator is likely to demand the divestment of 500 to 1,000 stores, Walgreens said.
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