Boots’ UK stores drag on Walgreen Boots Alliance’s international sales
Boots' UK stores acted as a drag on the international sales of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter, the pharmaceutical giant said today.
Internationally, the retail pharmacy arm of Walgreens Boots Alliance brought in sales of $3.1bn (£2.3bn), an increase of 4.1 per cent year-on-year. On a constant currency basis, sales fell 0.8 per cent for the quarter ended 30 November 2017.
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Like-for-like sales were down one per cent on a constant currency basis, which the group said was due to lower retail sales in its Boots UK stores. The results are in contrast to Boots' UK performance in the fourth quarter of the prior year, when like-for-like sales rose by 1.2 per cent.
Boots started to simplify its UK business in 2016 by cutting jobs and outsourcing its customer services. Then, last year, Boots said it would close 220 of its 320 photo labs due to a change in shopping habits, leading to more job losses.
For the group as a whole, sales increased 7.9 per cent to $30.7bn, which represented a 7.2 per cent rise on a constant currency basis. Operating income fell 8.6 per cent to $1.3bn.