Walgreen December Sales Rise 7%; Pharma Sales Strong

Last year ended well for drugstore major Walgreen , as its key operating metrics for December reveal. Total sales for the month amounted to $7.2 billion, or 7.2% higher on a year-over-year basis. Overall front-end (i.e., non-pharmacy goods) sales also rose, by 4% across the same time frame, while pharmacy sales increased by a robust 10.2%.

Comparable-store sales rose 6.1% on a year-over-year basis, while front-end "comps" advanced by 2.5% and pharmacy sales by 9%. Comparable-store customer traffic, however, saw a decline of 1.3%.

Last month, Walgreen posted fiscal Q1 2014 results that saw year-over-year improvements in both the top and bottom line. Net sales were $18.3 billion while attributable net profit came in at $695 million ($0.72 per diluted share). Both figures were improvements over Q1 2013's figures of $17.3 billion and $413 million ($0.43), respectively.

The article Walgreen December Sales Rise 7%; Pharma Sales Strong originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Eric Volkman has no position in Walgreen. Nor does The Motley Fool. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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