Walgreens Posts 6.9% Sales Increase In October

November 5, 2014

Walgreens reported October sales of $6.8 billion, an increase of 6.9% from the comparable year-ago period.

Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased by 3.6% in October and increased 4.1% on a calendar day-shift adjusted basis, meeting analyst expectations.  “Script growth for the chain drug stores likely grew in the low-to-mid-single-digit range again in October, but appears to have slowed vs. September,” Ed Kelly, Credit Suisse research analyst, commented in a note last week.  “Average script growth through the first three weeks of October, as reported by IMS, grew approximately 3.2% on a year-over-year basis, below the (approximate) 3.9% level seen in September,” he said.  “Flu activity is modestly higher than it was at this time last year and may provide a modest tailwind to comps.”

Flu shots administered at Walgreens’ pharmacies and clinics season to date were more than 5.7 million versus approximately 4.9 million last year.

October pharmacy sales increased by 9.9%.  Comparable store pharmacy sales increased 7.5% and increased by a calendar day-shift adjusted 8%.  Calendar day-shift adjusted comparable store pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 190 basis points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months, and were positively impacted by 40 basis points due to more flu shots versus last year.  Pharmacy sales accounted for 67.3% of total sales for the month.

Total front-end sales increased 2.7% in October compared with the same month in fiscal 2014, while comparable store front-end sales increased 2%.  Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 1.9% while basket size increased 3.9%.

Sales in comparable stores increased by 5.6% in October.  Calendar day shifts negatively impacted total comparable sales by 30 basis points, while more flu shots versus last year positively impacted total comparable sales by 30 basis points.  Generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 130 basis points.

Calendar 2014 year-to-date sales for the first 10 months were $64.2 billion, an increase of 6.1%.  Fiscal 2015 year-to-date sales for the first two months were $13.2 billion, up 7.7%.

Walgreens opened 16 stores during October, including relocations, and closed one.

Source: Retailing Today