Walgreen's 4Q Drops
CHICAGO One of the nation’s biggest drug store chain operators announced that its fourth-quarter profit dropped nearly 4 percent, according to Monday’s reports.
Walgreens explained that because of lower reimbursements for popular generic drugs and increased store and staff costs, its net income tumbled.
According to the company’s earnings report, total expenses increased by more than 11 percent to $12.8 billion, which chairman Jeffrey Rein said was out of line with reimbursements the company received. Prescription sales accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s business.
“Managing both expenses and lower reimbursements on some generic drugs is my top priority,” he said in a company release. “We’re going to fix this, and at the same time continue our aggressive growth plan.”
While company’s revenues rose more than 10 percent to $13.4 billion from $12.2 billion, its net income slipped to $396.5 million, compared to $412.3 million earnings at the same time last year.
For the year, the company said that its earnings increased by to $2.04 billion ($2.03 per share), compared with $1.75 billion ($1.72 per share).