Walgreens forecasts 2021 profit growth after fourth-quarter earnings beat

(Reuters) – Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said on Thursday it expects profit to grow in single digits in 2021 after posting a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher sales at U.S. pharmacies.

Shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain rose 2.8% to $36.93.

The company said it expects strong adjusted profit growth in the second half of 2021, as impact of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, and supported by its recovery plans.

Last quarter, the company suffered a significant decline in footfall in its UK-based retail pharmacies, and resorted to store closures, job cuts and suspension of share repurchases.

Same-store sales at the company’s retail pharmacy division in the United States rose 3.6% from a year earlier.

Excluding items, Walgreens earned $1.02 per share, beating analysts’ expectations of 96 cents per share.

(Reporting By Manas Mishra and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)