Walgreen Sales Top $4B

DEERFIELD, IL-Sales at pharmacy giant Walgreen topped $4.35 billion in November, jumping 16.2% above November 2005 in a steady climb that has marked a strong year of sales growth at the nation’s largest pharmacy chain. The company, which opened 81 stores this November, also reported a 9.3%-rise in comparable store sales for the month.

Pharmacy sales, which accounted for 64.5% of the month’s total, were up 18.2% overall and 11.4% at stores open at least a year. The number of prescriptions filled at comparable stores also increased by 7% in November with front-end same-store sales improving by 5.7%. The rise in pharmacy sales occurred despite a challenge by Wal-Mart and other chains, which recently announced that they would fill some generic prescriptions for $4.

In October, locally based Walgreen’s sales improved 18.2%, rising to $4.31 billion from $3.65 billion in the year ago period. Total pharmacy sales for October increased 21%, the company said. Comparable store sales were also up by 11.4% during October while same store sales increased 14.4%. Total prescriptions filled at comparable stores rose 9.5% in October while front-end sales in those stores increased 6.2%.

Earlier in November, Walgreen’s posted first quarter total sales of $12.71 billion, a 16.6%-increase over the previous year’s first quarter sales of $10.90 billion. Sales at comparable stores were up 9.7% during the three month period.

The company, which operates 5,580 drugstores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, recorded total sales growth of 14.3% so far this year with sales rising to $44.74 billion, up from $39.15 billion in 2005.