Although Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens Boots Alliance reported lower net income in the first quarter of 2017 than in the same period of the year prior, the company ended the quarter with a better-than-expected profit.
Here are six things to know about Walgreens' most recent financials.
1. Walgreens said sales fell to $28.5 billion in the first quarter of FY 2017, down from $29.03 billion in the same period of the year prior. That is the first time Walgreens' sales have fallen in four years, according to Reuters.
2. Pharmacy sales were up 2.5 percent year over year in the first quarter of FY 2017, while retail sales were down 0.9 percent from the same period of FY 2016.
3. Walgreens ended the first quarter of FY 2017 with net income of $1.05 billion, down from net income of $1.11 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
4. Adjusted diluted net earnings per share for the quarter climbed 6.8 percent year over year to $1.10, beating analysts' estimates of $1.09 per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
5. In its first quarter earnings release, Walgreens said it is working to close its pending $9.5 billion takeover of Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid in early 2017. The Walgreens-Rite Aid deal has been in the works since October 2015. In December, the companies entered into an agreement to sell 865 Rite Aid stores to Memphis, Tenn.-based Fred's to address concerns identified by the Federal Trade Commission in its review of Walgreen's proposed acquisition of Rite Aid.
6. Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina is confident the Walgreens-Rite Aid transaction will be approved. "We don't want even to think the deal could not be approved after so many months, after we have given so much information and have had a good relationship with the people of the FTC," Mr. Pessina said during a call with analysts this week, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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