McKesson reports 5% lift in first-quarter revenue to $32.2 billion

SAN FRANCISCO — McKesson on Thursday afternoon reported revenues of $32.2 billion, up 5%, for the first quarter ended June 30.

“McKesson is off to an excellent start in Fiscal 2014, with strong execution from both Distribution Solutions and Technology Solutions driving earnings growth,” stated John Hammergren, chairman and CEO. “Based on the momentum from our first-quarter results and our confidence in the full year, we are raising our previous outlook for the fiscal year and now expect adjusted earnings per diluted share from continuing operations of $8.05 to $8.35 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014.”

Distribution Solutions revenues were up 5% in the first quarter, driven mainly by strong growth in U.S. pharmaceutical direct distribution and services revenues and the acquisition of PSS World Medical. Technology Solutions revenues were up 9% in the first quarter compared to the prior year. 

McKesson also announced that the board of directors approved an increase to the company's quarterly dividend from 20 cents to 24 cents per share. “Our strong balance sheet and cash flow performance provide us with opportunities to deploy capital to advance our long-term strategic objectives and lay the foundation for future growth,” Hammergren said. “We continue to believe our portfolio approach to capital deployment, through a mixture of acquisitions, share repurchases, dividends and internal capital spending, creates significant value for our shareholders.”

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