Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.
Q4 2007 Earnings Call Transcript

Published: 1 Oct 2007

[Rick Hans:]

Hello, and welcome to Walgreen’s audio webcast for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2007. I’m Rick Hans, Walgreen’s Director of Finance, and I’d like to thank you for tuning in. We invite you to use this information in conjunction with the press release and other financial information posted on our web site. Before we begin, I’d like to go over the safe harbor language. Certain statements and projections of future results made in this presentation constitute forward-looking information that is based on current market, competitive and regulatory expectations that involve risk and uncertainty. Please see our Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2006, for a discussion of factors as they relate to forward-looking statements. Today we announced our 33rd consecutive year of record sales and profits, although earnings in the fourth quarter decreased. Fiscal 2007 sales were up 13.4% to a record $53.8 billion, while fiscal year net earnings rose 16.6% to $2.04 billion or $2.03 per share, diluted – also a record. For the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, sales were up 10.3% to a record $13.4 billion. Net earnings for the fourth quarter declined 3.8% to $397 million or 40 cents per share, diluted. As we mentioned in our press release, this quarter experienced several factors that drove down our profits. They included