Issa brothers mull petrol empire sale as Asda owners eye Boots bid May 2, 2022 The billionaire brothers behind the blockbuster Asda takeover are reportedly in talks to sell their petrol forecourt business for some £12.bn. Zuber and Mohsin Issa are thought to be considering a proposal for Boots, with the high street chemist’s US owners hoping for a £7bn price tag. A sale of EG Group would unlock billions [...]
Boots sales knocked by dip in footfall but buoyed by Covid-19 test demand October 14, 2021 Sales hit £34bn in the three months to 31 August at Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the combined group of pharmacy chains Walgreens and Boots. Boots UK pharmacy sales lifted 11.4 per cent in comparison with last year, signalling strong demand for pharmacy services, notably Covid-19 tests. While retail sales jumped 15 per cent. High street [...]
Boots owner Walgreens rises earnings forecast as US vaccine rollout boosts revenue July 1, 2021 Walgreens Boots Alliance, the owner of pharmacy chain Boots, has raised its 2021 earnings growth forecast after higher pharmacy sales and Covid-19 vaccine rollouts in the United States helped it beat third-quarter revenue expectations. Walgreens had been relying on gains from administering Covid-19 vaccines to tide over losses from low prescription volumes and a weak flu season [...]
Wall Street edges higher following data that shows the labour market is cooling September 2, 2023 A choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended on Friday with slight gains for stocks, as the market notched its second straight winning week. The market got a boost early on from a closely watched government report that showed US job growth increased at a healthy but more moderate pace last month. The report [...]
Boots hikes profit forecasts as pharmacy sales offset high street slump March 31, 2021 The US owner of Boots today hiked its profit forecasts for the full year as higher pharmacy sales helped offset lower footfall during lockdown. Walgreen Boots Alliance posted an 8.4 per cent increase in profit to $1bn (£725m) in the second quarter, driven by a rise in comparable pharmacy sales in the US. Revenue for [...]
Mark Kleinman’s Column: Walgreens needs different prescription for future of Boots June 1, 2022 As an octogenarian with a literary penchant and more than half a century in business behind him, Stefano Pessina will be as aware as anyone of “time’s winged chariot hurrying near”. But is his sense of the passing of time in danger of impairing the judgement of the notoriously dogged and astute Italian dealmaker? The [...]
Boots owner WBA appoints former Amazon director as new CEO January 27, 2021 The owner of Boots will strengthen its team in March with the appointment of a business powerhouse as the new CEO and adding a new executive chairman to its board. Previously chief operating officer of Starbucks Rosalind Brewer will join Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) as chief executive officer. Brewer, a former Amazon director, was the [...]
Boots sales drop 30 per cent as shoppers dodge high street October 15, 2020 British chemist Boots suffered a near 30 per cent drop in sales in the fourth quarter of the year as consumers stayed away from the high street despite the coronavirus pandemic easing slightly. Sales dropped 29.2 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. However, the figures were an improvement on the previous [...]
Boots sales slump as shoppers prioritise supermarkets during pandemic January 7, 2021 Boots suffered a sharp drop in sales in the first quarter as consumers shifted towards “one-stop” supermarket shopping during the pandemic, the high street pharmacy’s US owner announced today. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), the parent company of the UK chemist chain, said its retail pharmacy division’s sales fell 6.2 per cent to $2.6bn, driven by [...]
WPP client wins help revenue decline slow October 29, 2020 Ad giant WPP reported another fall in sales in the third quarter but the pace of decline slowed from the previous quarter. The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies said its like-for-like sales had dropped by 5.5 per cent to £2.97bn, compared with a 11.5 per cent drop in the previous quarter. [...]