DEERFIELD, Ill., May 4, 2009 - Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)(NASDAQ: WAG) had April sales of $5,381,000,000, an increase of 11.1 percent from $4,845,355,000 for the same month in 2008. Sales in comparable stores (those open at least a year) rose 5.7 percent, while comparable store front-end sales increased 8.9 percent.
Sales were helped by Easter falling in April this year compared with a March Easter last year. Sales for the combined months of March and April 2009 increased 9.0 percent from the same two months in 2008. Comparable store sales for the March/April period rose 3.7 percent, while comparable store front-end sales for the combined months increased 1.3 percent.
April pharmacy sales increased 8.5 percent, while comparable pharmacy sales increased 4.0 percent. Comparable pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 4.0 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months.
Total prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 3.7 percent in April. Pharmacy sales accounted for 65.4 percent of total sales for the month. Calendar day shifts negatively impacted prescriptions filled in comparable stores by 0.5 percentage points.
Total prescriptions filled at comparable stores were also negatively impacted by 2.2 percentage points due to more patients filling 90-day versus 30-day prescriptions.
Calendar year-to-date sales were $21,201,154,000, an increase of 6.9 percent from $19,835,867,000, in 2008.
Fiscal 2009 year-to-date sales for the eight months were $42,272,014,000 up 7.4 percent from $39,376,579,000. Comparable store sales for the fiscal year to date increased 2.0 percent. Walgreens opened 51 drugstores during April, including four relocations, acquired one store and closed one.
At April 30, Walgreens operated 7,282 locations in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. That includes 6,783 drugstores, 579 more than a year ago. The company also operates worksite health centers, home care facilities and specialty, institutional and mail service pharmacies. Its Take Care Health Systems subsidiary manages 716 in-store convenient care clinics and worksite health and wellness centers. Franchisees of Option Care, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walgreens, are not included in Walgreens location or store count.
Please note: Monthly sales numbers are preliminary and unaudited. Comparable stores are defined as those drugstore locations open for at least 12 consecutive months without closure for seven or more consecutive days and without a major remodel or a natural disaster in the past 12 months. Relocated and acquired stores are not included as comparable stores for the first 12 months after the relocation or acquisition.
