|
 CVS, which operates the No. 2 U.S. drugstore chain
and a major pharmacy benefits management business, raised its
first-quarter profit forecast by 7 cents per share to a range of
$1.03 to $1.06. It stuck to the 2014 forecast from December and
still expects adjusted profit of $4.36 to $4.50 per share this year.
Revenue in the quarter ended December 31 rose 4.6 percent to $32.83
billion, beating analyst forecasts of $32.67 billion, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, despite two impediments.
CVS's pharmacy services unit processed 0.3 percent fewer network
claims because of lower membership in a Medicare plan aimed at
seniors. The company was hit by sanctions placed on CVS last year by
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services over its marketing of
the plan.
The government lifted its sanctions in December, allowing CVS to
resume enrolling members last month.
Another challenge was a drop in the number of visits to stores, a
problem that has also hit rivals Walgreen Co and Rite Aid Corp. That
contributed to a 1.9 percent decline in sales of general merchandise
at stores open at least a year last quarter.
Still, the company filled 3.8 percent more prescriptions and sold
more generic drugs which cost less but have larger profit margins.
[to top of second column] |
CVS earned $1.27 billion from continuing operations, or $1.05 per
share, in the fourth quarter, up from $1.13 billion, or 90 cents per
share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, it reported a profit of
$1.12 per share, a penny better than expected.
Shares rose 2.5 percent to $68.60 in premarket trading.
CVS announced last week it would stop selling all tobacco products
at its drugstores by October, making it the first national drugstore
chain in the United States to take cigarettes off the shelves.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York;
editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Sofina Mirza-Reid)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
