Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) announced plans to cut 4,000 staff at pharmacy chain Boots UK.
The restructuring would involve the closure of 48 Boots Opticians stores and 20% cut of staff in the support office.
Sales tumbled 48% in the three months to May 31, despite stores stayed open as essential businesses throughout the lockdown.
Revenues for the wider company were flat at US$34.6bn, while it slumped to an operating loss of US$1.6bn from last year’s profit of US$1.2bn mainly due to the non-cash impairment charges of US$2bn in Boots UK.
The group is targeting US$2bn savings by the year to September 2022.
Shares dropped 3% to US$40.98 in premarket trading.