Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) swung to a loss in financial 2023, following a pre-tax charge for opioid-related claims and litigation.
The Illinois, US-based retailer and parent of Walgreens and Boots UK Ltd said in the three months ended August 31, 2023, sales rose 9.2% to $35.42 billion from $32.45 billion year-on-year.
Its net loss narrowed to $208 million from $501 million.
Interim chief executive officer Ginger Graham said the firm has taken a “number of steps to align our cost structure with our business performance, including planned cost reductions of at least $1 billion, and lowered capital expenditures by approximately $600 million.”
“We anticipate seeing the impact of these actions in fiscal 2024, beginning in the second quarter."
Full-year sales jumped 4.8% to $139.08 billion from $132.70 billion a year ago but it swung to a net loss of $3.53 billion from a profit of $4.07 billion.
This reflected a $6.8 billion pretax charge for opioid-related claims and litigation, partly offset by higher Boots UK intangible assets impairment charges in the year ago period.
Looking ahead, Walgreens expects sales between $141 billion and $145 billion for the new financial year.
But it pulled guidance beyond this as it is "continuing to evaluate macroeconomic trends and challenges, and expecting to provide long-term guidance, if any, in the future."
On Wednesday, Walgreens said it appointed former Cigna (NYSE:CI) chief executive officer, Tim Wentworth, as its new chief executive.
Shares eased 2.1% in pre-market trading.