Walgreen Q1 Profit Rises - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. (WAG) posted first-quarter GAAP net earnings of $809 million, a 16.4 percent increase from $695 million in the year-ago quarter, with earnings per share rising 18.1 percent to $0.85 from $0.72 last year.

On an adjusted basis, fiscal 2015 first quarter net earnings totaled $773 million, a 12.4 percent increase from $688 million a year ago. Adjusted net earnings per share for the latest quarter amounted to $0.81. On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.75 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Quarterly sales went up by 6.7 percent year-on-year to $19.6 billion from $18.33 billion, with total sales in comparable stores growing 5.7 percent. Analysts estimated sales of $19.50 billion for the quarter. Front-end, or retail products, comparable store sales rose 1.5 percent in the first quarter, compared with last year's first quarter. While customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.7 percent, basket size improved by 4.2 percent.

Pharmacy sales, that accounted for 66.8 percent of sales in the quarter, increased 9.0 percent year-on-year while pharmacy sales in comparable stores grew 8.1 percent.