Walgreens Boots Alliance Q4 Adj. Profit Tops View, But Sales Miss

(RTTNews) - Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) reported that its fourth quarter net earnings attributable to the company were $1.0 billion compared with $26 million in the same quarter a year ago, while GAAP diluted net earnings per share were $0.95 compared with $0.02 in the same quarter a year ago. The increases in GAAP net earnings and GAAP net earnings per share reflect fluctuations in the quarterly fair value adjustments of the company's AmerisourceBergen Corporation warrants.

Adjusted fiscal 2016 fourth quarter net earnings attributable to Walgreens Boots Alliance1 increased 20.3 percent to $1.2 billion compared with the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted net earnings per share for the quarter increased 21.6 percent to $1.07 compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Sales in the fourth quarter were $28.6 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent over the year-ago quarter, or 2.5 percent on a constant currency basis.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.99 per share and revenues of $29.06 billion for the fourth-quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

In June, as previously announced, the company achieved its goal set in 2012 to reach at least $1 billion in combined net synergies in fiscal 2016 relating to the strategic combination with Alliance Boots. This excluded the synergy benefits relating to the company's strategic, long-term relationship with AmerisourceBergen, the benefits of refinancing legacy Alliance Boots debt at a lower cost and the pending Rite Aid acquisition.

Walgreens Boots Alliance today introduced guidance of $4.85 to $5.20 for fiscal year 2017 adjusted net earnings per share. This guidance assumes accretion of $0.05 to $0.12 from Rite Aid and is based on the above disclosure regarding expected store divestitures and timing of closing. Additionally, this guidance assumes current exchange rates for the rest of the fiscal year and continuation of its normal anti-dilutive share buyback program. Wall Street currently is looking for fiscal year 2017 earnings of $5.03 per share.

Separately, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) today announced that, in accordance with the terms of their merger agreement dated 27 October 2015, they have mutually agreed to extend the end date of their merger agreement from 27 October 2016 to 27 January 2017. The companies now expect the transaction will close in early calendar 2017.

On 27 October 2015, the companies entered into a definitive agreement under which Walgreens Boots Alliance agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Rite Aid for $9.00 per share in cash. Under the terms of the merger agreement, either party has the right to extend the end date from 27 October 2016 to 27 January 2017 by delivery of notice to the other.