© Reuters. People walk by a Walgreens, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 26, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Reuters) -Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:) Inc posted a loss for the fourth quarter, partly due to higher operational costs and an impairment charge related to its Boots UK business.
Shares of the company, however, were up 5.23% before the bell after Walgreens said it expects full-year 2023 profit in the range of $4.45 to $4.65 per share.
Walgreens has benefited from gains from administering COVID-19 vaccines to cushion the impact of losses from low prescription volumes and over-the-counter sales of health and wellness products in recent quarters due to the pandemic.
But it had warned of waning vaccination demand in July.
The company’s U.S. pharmacy sales fell 8.8% in the fourth quarter, pressured by weakness in its AllianceRx business.
The net loss attributable to Walgreens was $415 million, or 48 cents per share, in the quarter ended Aug. 31, compared with a profit of $627 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.
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