Associated Press
NEW YORK — Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. says its profit fell 7 percent in the fiscal second quarter because of costs for its restructuring plan even as retail prescriptions grew, bucking an industry trend.
The Deerfield, Ill., company says it earned $640 million, or 65 cents per share. That compares compared with $686 million, or 69 cents per share, a year ago. That includes restructuring expenses of 6 cents per share, which saved the company 2 cents per share. Sales grew 7 percent, to $16.48 billion from $15.39 billion.
In January, Walgreen said it would cut 1,000 jobs to reduce overhead, part of a plan to save the company $1 billion per year by 2011.
The company said prescriptions grew 7.8 percent for the quarter, and 63 percent of its revenue came from filling prescriptions.
