Walgreens Says Pandemic Hurting Visits to Pharmacies
January 07 2021 - 11:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg and Sharon Terlep
Pharmacy foot traffic is down as Covid-19 precautions thwart the
seasonal flu and people skip routine medical care and generally
avoid stores, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. executives said on
Thursday.
The company said overall revenue expanded in the quarter ended
Nov. 30 amid stronger sales for prescription medicines even as the
pandemic continued to make some consumers hesitant to visit its
stores. The quarterly results came a day after Walgreens agreed to
sell its pharmacy wholesale unit for $6.5 billion.
The drugstore chain also said any gains it generates from
providing Covid-19 vaccinations are likely to be offset by
pandemic-related lockdows and restrictions. Walgreens is working
with government officials to vaccinate residents and staff at more
than 35,000 long-term-care facilities in 49 states, according to
the company. It is also preparing for mass vaccinations at its
retail locations later this year.
"We have the capacity and are ready to vaccinate tens of
millions of Americans," said Alexander Gourlay, Walgreens co-chief
operating officer. The company has 30,000 staff to assist with its
effort and is seeking to increase that to 45,000 in the next three
months, he said.
On Wednesday, CVS Health Corp., which is also providing the
vaccines at long-term-care facilities, said some staffers at such
sites had been hesitant to be vaccinated, slowing the rollout of
the shots. CVS and Walgreens said they expected to deliver first
doses at nursing homes by Jan. 25.
Of the more than 17 million doses of vaccines from Moderna Inc.
and Pfizer Inc. with BioNTech SE that have been shipped, roughly
5.3 million have been administered, according to federal
figures.
Walgreens said sales for its latest quarter rose to $36.31
billion from $34.34 billion a year ago.
Pharmacy sales in the U.S. were up 5% on a comparable basis but
0.4% for other items sold in its stores, like beauty or
personal-care products.
The company's Boots U.K. branch also faced challenges tied to
the coronavirus, with traffic at those shops weakening in November
following the reintroduction of stricter restrictions. The British
government this week ordered a new lockdown until mid-February amid
the spread of a highly contagious new strain of the virus.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens reported a loss of $308 million,
or 36 cents a share, for its fiscal first quarter, compared with a
profit of $845 million, or 95 cents a share, for the year-earlier
period.
The company said it recorded a charge of $1.73 a share tied to
its investment in AmerisourceBergen Corp. during the latest
quarter, weighing on earnings. Walgreens has a roughly 30% stake in
the health-products distributor. On Wednesday, Walgreens agreed to
sell the majority of its pharmacy wholesale unit to
AmerisourceBergen.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com and Sharon
Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 07, 2021 11:44 ET (16:44 GMT)
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