Walgreens Boots Alliance has boosted its second quarter sales amid restructuring of its US operations.
The company’s Retail Pharmacy International division, which includes Boots in the UK, increased sales by 2.9 per cent to $2.0bn.
Walgreens Boots Alliance has been organised into three segments – Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International and Pharmaceutical Wholesale – but figures were not disclosed for the UK or for Boots Opticians operations directly.
Its total net sales in the second quarter increased 35.5 per cent to $26.6bn compared with the same quarter a year ago, largely due to the inclusion of Alliance Boots in figures following the completion of a merger by Boots and Walgreens last year.
As part of a $1.5bn cost-reduction initiative, Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to close approximately 200 US stores.
Executive vice chairman and acting CEO Stefano Pessina said: ‘This quarter marked a solid start for our new company, and I remain as optimistic as ever about our long-term future. At the same time, we understand the work that is needed to proactively address headwinds such as reimbursement pressure and competition. Our work includes several key areas of focus to create value.
‘The first area is improving the performance of our businesses worldwide with an emphasis on operations. Second, we will be refreshing and reinvesting in the stores of our Retail Pharmacy USA division to improve the customer experience and expand retail margins.’