In Brief: Walgreen
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Walgreen: Drug store chain reports sales up 14.1% to $3.5 bil. in the first quarter ended Nov. 30. As a result of an accounting change in which the company took a 5 [cents] per share charge against earnings, net earnings fell 18.7% to $61 mil. Excluding the effect of the new accounting interpretation, earnings increased 16% to $87 mil. The firm opened 58 new Walgreens during the quarter, of which 20 were relocations to "more convenient, freestanding locations," the company said. The firm expects to exceed its targeted 280 store openings in fiscal 1998 and, "by 1999, we'll open a store a day," it notes...