By Tess Stynes
Walgreen Co.'s (WAG) same-store sales rose 2.9% in January from
a year earlier on better-than-expected performance in the pharmacy
section and the front of the store.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected same-store sales
growth of 1.7%.
Drugstore retailers have seen a wave of generic drug
introductions put pressure on sales growth.
For January, Walgreen reported same-store sales grew 1.6% in the
front of the store, above analysts' estimates for a 0.8% increase.
Same-store customer traffic fell 2.2% but basket size increased
3.8%.
Pharmacy same-store sales increased 3.7%, above analysts'
estimates for 2.2% growth. Same-store prescriptions filled dropped
0.8%. Adjusted for calendar shifts, generic drug introductions had
a negative impact of 1.3 percentage points, while a decline in flu
shots had a negative impact of half a percentage point. A lower
incidence of flu had a negative impact on pharmacy sales of 1.1
percentage point.
Total drugstore sales rose 3.7% to $6.39 billion.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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