Walgreen fiscal 3Q profit jumps 16 percent

Friday, June 21, 2013, Vol. 37, No. 25
The Associated Press

Walgreen says its fiscal third quarter earnings jumped 16 percent compared to last year, when a business split hurt results for the nation's largest drugstore chain.

The Deerfield, Ill., company reported net income of $624 million, or 65 cents per share, in the quarter that ended in May. That's up from $537 million, or 62 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose about 3 percent to $18.31 billion.

Adjusted earnings were 85 cents per share, excluding acquisition and legal costs.

Analysts forecast earnings of 91 cents per share on $18.4 billion in revenue.

Walgreen resumed filling prescriptions for pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts last September after a break of about nine months. Its acquisition of a stake in European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots also helped results this year.