Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAL) reported Tuesday that the company’s profit rose 4.5 percent during its fiscal second quarter as its prescription drug sales rose, according to Associated Press.
The company said it sold about 2 million flu shots in December, January and February, less than half the 5 million it administered over the three previous months but more than the 1.2 million it gave during the 2008-09 flu season.
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The company said it earned $669 million, or 68 cents per share, in the second quarter, up from $640 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier. Restructuring expenses reduced its profit by 2 cents per share. Revenue rose 3.1 percent to $16.99 billion from $16.48 billion.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time costs like restructuring, on average expected Walgreen to earn 71 cents per share on $17.17 billion in revenue.
Earlier this month, the company suggested its second-quarter would be just under $17 billion. Wall Street's expectations have come down in the last few weeks, but analyst estimates did not fully reflect that result.
Walgreen's prescription revenue increased 3.2 percent as more customers filled 90-day prescriptions but just under 1 percent at stores open at least a year. Sales of other items, like magazines, cosmetics, and food, fell 1.6 percent at stores open at least a year.
The company's overall sales at stores that had been open at least a year fell 0.2 percent.
Walgreen also is in the midst of buying New York City drugstore chain Duane Reade in a deal announced in February that will make Walgreen the leading drugstore operator in the city.
Walgreen acquired or opened 41 stores during the quarter, and closed or relocated 8 stores. At the end of February, it ran 7,180 stores in all 50 states, along with Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, DC. The company also has 500 work site health centers, home care facilities, and specialty and other pharmacies.
Walgreen shares rose 58 cents, or 1.6 percent, to close at $35.91 Tuesday.
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