(Reuters) -Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday forecast financial year 2024 profit below estimates after the pharmacy operator missed Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings due to lower consumer spending and a sharp drop in sales of COVID-19 tests and vaccines.
Shares of the company fell 2% in premarket trading.
Walgreens’ lower forecast comes at a time when the company tackles multiple challenges, like persistently weak prescription drug demand, reported walkouts by its pharmacy staff and a shift in focus towards integrated health services.
It has also contended with weak sales of its consumer health products due to persistently high inflation.
Walgreens announced a planned cost reduction of at least $1 billion and lowered capital expenditure by about $600 million. It also named Tim Wentworth, a former Cigna executive, as permanent CEO on Tuesday.
The second-largest U.S. pharmacy chain operator, whose financial year ends in August, forecast an annual adjusted profit of $3.20 to $3.50 per share, compared to analysts’ average estimate of $3.72 per share, according to LSEG data.
Excluding items, the company reported earnings of $0.67 per share for the quarter, compared to average analysts’ estimate of $0.69 per share, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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