Walgreens June Sales Increase 8.4 Percent

Published on Tuesday, 06 July 2010 08:09 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

DEERFIELD, Ill.-( Business Wire )-

Walgreens (NYSE, NASDAQ: WAG) had June sales of $5.67 billion, an increase of 8.4 percent from $5.23 billion for the same month in 2009. Duane Reade stores contributed 3.0 percentage points to the total sales increase for the month.

Sales in comparable stores (those open at least a year) increased 2.0 percent. Duane Reade stores are not included in any comparable store results.

June pharmacy sales increased 6.8 percent, while comparable pharmacy sales increased 1.8 percent. The effect of calendar day shifts positively impacted comparable pharmacy sales by 0.2 percentage point. Comparable pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 1.9 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months and by 0.3 percentage point due to lower incidence of flu. Pharmacy sales accounted for 65.6 percent of total sales for the month.

Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 3.4 percent in June, including 1.3 percentage points due to more patients filling 90-day prescriptions. Calendar day shifts positively impacted prescriptions filled in comparable stores by 0.2 percentage point, while the lower incidence of flu negatively impacted comparable prescriptions filled by 0.7 percentage point.

Total front-end sales increased 10.9 percent in June, including 5.1 percentage points from Duane Reade. Comparable store front-end sales increased 2.2 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 2.0 percent, while basket size increased 0.2 percent.

Calendar year-to-date sales were $33.52 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent from $31.80 billion in 2009.

Fiscal 2010 year-to-date sales for the first 10 months were $56.22 billion, up 6.4 percent from $52.86 billion.

Walgreens opened 24 stores during June, including five relocations, acquired one and closed one.

At June 30, Walgreens operated 8,038 locations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. That includes 7,541 drugstores, 639 more than a year ago, including 283 stores acquired over the last 12 months. The company also operates worksite health centers, home care facilities and specialty, institutional and mail service pharmacies. Its Take Care Health Systems subsidiary manages more than 700 in-store convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness centers. Franchisees of Option Care, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens, are not included in Walgreens location or store count.

June Comparable Sales and Prescriptions Filled
				Calendar
				Shift		Generics	Flu
		Reported		Impact		Impact	Impact
Total Comp Sales		2.0%		0.1%		-1.2%	-0.2%
Comp Front End		2.2%		-		-
Comp Rx Sales		1.8%		0.2%		-1.9%	-0.3%
Comp Rx Scripts		3.4%*		0.2%		-	-0.7%
* Includes +1.3% from patients filling more 90-day prescriptions

Please note: Sales numbers and the adjustments shown in the table are preliminary and unaudited. Comparable stores are defined as those drugstore locations open for at least 12 consecutive months without closure for seven or more consecutive days and without a major remodel or a natural disaster in the past 12 months. Duane Reade, other acquired stores and relocations are not included as comparable stores for the first 12 months after the acquisition or relocation.

WalgreensMedia:Tiffani Washington, 847-914-2925orInvestors:Rick Hans, CFA, 847-914-2385orLisa Meers, CFA, 847-914-2361http://news.walgreens.com