Release Details

Fourth Quarter Results Ahead of Expectations;

Raising Long-Term Targets for U.S. Healthcare Segment

Fourth quarter and fiscal year financial highlights

• Fourth quarter loss per share* from continuing operations was $0.48, a decrease of $0.89 from the year-ago quarter; adjusted earnings per share (EPS*) decreased 31.8 percent to $0.80, down 30.0 percent on a constant currency basis, reflecting a strong prior year quarter with higher COVID-19 vaccination volumes
• Fiscal 2022 EPS from continuing operations was $5.01, an increase of 117.6 percent, compared with $2.30 in the year-ago period; adjusted EPS increased 2.5 percent to $5.04, up 3.4 percent in constant currency
• Fourth quarter sales from continuing operations decreased 5.3 percent year-over-year, to $32.4 billion, down 3.2 percent on a constant currency basis, including a 660 basis point impact from the anticipated sales decline at AllianceRx Walgreens
• Fiscal 2022 sales from continuing operations increased 0.1 percent to $132.7 billion, up 1.2 percent on a constant currency basis, including a 550 basis point impact from AllianceRx Walgreens

Fiscal 2023 guidance and long-term growth outlook

• Expecting fiscal year 2023 adjusted EPS of $4.45 to $4.65 as strong core business growth is more than offset by lapping fiscal year 2022 COVID-19 execution, and currency headwinds
• Raising U.S. Healthcare fiscal 2025 sales target to $11 billion to $12 billion, with the segment expected to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA by fiscal year 2024
• Increased visibility to the company's long-term growth algorithm, building to low-teens adjusted EPS growth in fiscal year 2025 and beyond

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) today announced financial results for the fiscal year and fourth quarter that ended Aug. 31, 2022.

Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer said:

"WBA has delivered ahead of expectations in the first year of our transformation to a consumer-centric healthcare company. Our resilient business achieved growth while navigating macroeconomic headwinds. Fiscal 2023 will be a year of accelerating core growth and rapidly scaling our U.S. Healthcare business. Our execution to date provides us visibility and confidence to increase the long-term outlook for our next growth engine and reconfirm our path to low-teens adjusted EPS growth. Our strategic actions are unlocking sustainable shareholder value as we simplify the company and continue our journey to being a healthcare leader."

Overview of Fourth Quarter Results

WBA fourth quarter sales from continuing operations decreased 5.3 percent from the year-ago quarter to $32.4 billion, a decrease of 3.2 percent on a constant currency basis. Sales growth at Walgreens and in the International segment, and sales contributions from the U.S. Healthcare segment were more than offset by a 660 basis point impact from the sales decline at AllianceRx Walgreens.

Fourth quarter operating loss from continuing operations was $822 million compared to operating income of $910 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating loss in the quarter reflects a $783 million non-cash impairment charge related to intangible assets in Boots UK, and higher costs related to the Transformational Cost Management Program. Adjusted operating income from continuing operations was $744 million, a decrease of 38.2 percent on a constant currency basis, reflecting lower U.S. pharmacy operating results as it lapped higher volumes of prior year COVID-19 vaccinations, and growth investments in U.S. Healthcare, partly offset by improved retail contributions in both the U.S. Retail Pharmacy and International segments.

Net loss from continuing operations in the fourth quarter was $415 million compared to net income of $358 million in the year-ago quarter, reflecting the decline in operating income, which was partly offset by the favorable impact of a lower tax rate, and a gain on the sale of a portion of the Company's equity method investment in Option Care Health. Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations decreased 31.9 percent to $694 million, down 30.2 percent on a constant currency basis compared with the year-ago quarter.

Loss per share from continuing operations was $0.48, compared to earnings per share of $0.41 in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations decreased 31.8 percent to $0.80, reflecting a decrease of 30.0 percent on a constant currency basis.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $85 million in the fourth quarter and free cash flow was $(407) million, a $1.3 billion decrease compared with the year-ago quarter driven primarily by lower operating income, pre-buy of seasonal inventory, U.S. legal settlements, and increased capital expenditures in growth initiatives, partly offset by working capital timing benefits.

Overview of Fiscal Year Results

Sales from continuing operations in fiscal 2022 increased 0.1 percent from the year-ago period to $132.7 billion, up 1.2 percent on a constant currency basis,reflecting comparable sales growth at Walgreens and in the International segment as well as contributions from U.S. Healthcare acquisitions, partly offset by a 550 basis point impact from the sales decline at AllianceRx Walgreens.

Operating income from continuing operations in fiscal 2022 decreased 40.8 percent to $1.4 billion, compared with $2.3 billion in the year-ago period. This reflects a $783 million Boots UK impairment charge, a $683 million charge related to the opioid settlement with the State of Florida, and higher Transformational Cost Management program costs, partly offset by a $1.5 billion charge in the prior fiscal year related to the Company's equity earnings from AmerisourceBergen. Adjusted operating income from continuing operations increased 0.3 percent on a reported basis to $5.1 billion, up 1.2 percent on a constant currency basis. The increase reflects improved retail contribution in the U.S., and a continued rebound in International sales and profitability, partly offset by a decrease in U.S. pharmacy operating results, and by growth investments in U.S. Healthcare.

Net earnings from continuing operations were $4.3 billion in fiscal 2022, compared with $2.0 billion in the year-ago period, reflecting a $2.5 billion after-tax gain in the first quarter due to the remeasurement of the Company's previously held investments in VillageMD and Shields Health Solutions, and a $1.2 billion charge, net of tax, in the prior fiscal year from the Company's equity earnings in AmerisourceBergen. This was partly offset by impairment charges in Boots UK in the fourth quarter, and the charge related to the Florida opioid settlement in the third quarter. Adjusted net earnings from continuing operations increased 2.5 percent compared with the year-ago period to $4.4 billion, up 3.3 percent on a constant currency basis.

EPS from continuing operations for fiscal 2022 increased to $5.01, compared with $2.30 in the year-ago period. Adjusted EPS from continuing operations was $5.04, an increase of 2.5 percent on a reported basis and an increase of 3.4 percent on a constant currency basis.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $3.9 billion in fiscal 2022. Free cash flow was $2.2 billion, a decrease of $2.0 billion from fiscal 2021 driven by lower free cash flow from the AllianceRx Walgreens business, the absence of COVID-19 related government support, seasonal inventory pre-buy, U.S. legal settlements, and increased capital expenditures in growth initiatives, including the VillageMD footprint expansion, the rollout of microfulfillment centers, and digital transformation initiatives, partly offset by working capital initiatives and timing benefits.

Business Highlights

WBA continued to achieve strong results across its business, including:

Transform and align the core

• Continuing to play a leading role in COVID-19 vaccinations and testing
  – Walgreens administered 2.9 million vaccinations and 3.4 million PCR tests in 4Q
  – Over 24.9 million boosters administered for the program to date
• Drove U.S. digital sales growth of 14 percent in 4Q, on top of 82 percent in the year-ago period
• Grew myWalgreens membership to 102 million members at the end of 4Q
• Operated eight automated microfulfillment centers at quarter-end, supporting ~1,800 stores
• Investing in labor to return impacted stores to normal operating hours

Build our next growth engine with consumer-centric healthcare solutions

• Accelerated full acquisition of Shields
• Completed majority share acquisition of CareCentrix and accelerated full acquisition
• Continued the rollout of VillageMD with 342 total clinics and 152 co-located clinics now open, on track toward 200 co-located clinics by end of CY22
• Established 70 Walgreens Health Corners to date, on track toward 100 by end of CY22

Focus the portfolio; optimize capital allocation

• Sold 11 million shares of Option Care Health, with $360 million in proceeds
• $150 million in expected proceeds from agreement for sale of Guangzhou Pharmaceuticals stake
• Increased the quarterly dividend for the 47th consecutive year

Build a high-performance culture and a winning team

• Announced CareCentrix CEO John Driscoll as executive vice president and president, U.S. Healthcare at WBA; CareCentrix CFO, Steve Horowitz, will assume the role of CareCentrix CEO
• Announced a new structure for the U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment, organized under two leaders: Lee Cooper, executive vice president and president, Pharmacy; and Tracey Brown, president, Walgreens Retail and chief customer officer
• Elevated Walgreens chief medical officer Kevin Ban to the newly created enterprise-level role of executive vice president and chief medical officer, joining the WBA Executive Committee
• Appointed Inderpal Bhandari to the Board of Directors and named Hsiao Wang senior vice president and chief information officer, bringing deep tech expertise in healthcare and retail
• Reconstituted the Finance Committee of the Board of Directors as the Finance and Technology Committee, reflecting the significance of technology to achieving the Company's goals
• Named Alethia Jackson senior vice president, ESG and chief DEI officer

Business Segments

The Company has changed the names of two reportable segments to better align with the Company’s business activities, structure, and strategy. The “United States” segment has been renamed to “U.S. Retail Pharmacy” and the “Walgreens Health” segment was renamed to “U.S. Healthcare”. The segment name changes did not result in any change to the composition of the segments.

U.S. Retail Pharmacy

The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment had fourth quarter sales of $26.7 billion, a decrease of 7.2 percent from the year-ago quarter. Comparable sales increased 1.6 percent from the year-ago quarter and lapped strong comparable sales of 8.1 percent in the year-ago quarter, which included a significant contribution from COVID-19 vaccinations.

Pharmacy sales decreased 8.8 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, negatively impacted by a 10 percentage point headwind from AllianceRx Walgreens. Comparable pharmacy sales increased 3.0 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the year-ago quarter. Comparable prescriptions filled in the fourth quarter decreased 3.5 percent while comparable prescriptions excluding immunizations decreased 0.1 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Total prescriptions filled in the quarter, including immunizations, adjusted to 30-day equivalents, decreased 4.4 percent to 298.7 million.

Retail sales decreased 2.4 percent and comparable retail sales decreased 1.9 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Excluding tobacco, comparable retail sales decreased 1.1 percent. Comparable retail sales lapped strong results in the year ago quarter where comparable retail sales increased 6.2 percent, aided by broad based growth across all categories including strong sales of COVID-19 related items. Over a three-year period, comparable retail sales excluding tobacco increased 13.0 percent.

Gross profit decreased 15.3 percent to $5.3 billion compared to $6.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted gross profit decreased 13.2 percent to $5.4 billion compared to the year-ago quarter, reflecting a decline in pharmacy results from lower COVID-19 vaccinations and continued reimbursement pressure, partly offset by retail gross margin performance.

Selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) decreased 3.2 percent to $5.2 billion compared to $5.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted SG&A decreased 6.8 percent to $4.8 billion, driven by lower volumes of COVID-19 vaccinations and cost discipline, partly offset by increased labor costs and the timing of marketing expenditures.

Operating income in the fourth quarter decreased 75.2 percent to $251 million compared to operating income of $1.0 billion in the year-ago quarter, reflecting higher costs related to the Transformational Cost Management Program. Adjusted operating income decreased 36.1 percent to $786 million compared to $1.2 billion in the year-ago quarter, reflecting lower COVID-19 vaccination volumes and continued reimbursement pressure, partly offset by improved retail gross margin and SG&A expense improvement.

International

The International segment had fourth quarter sales of $5.1 billion, a decrease of 6.6 percent from the year-ago quarter, including an adverse currency impact of 13.3 percent. Sales increased 6.7 percent on a constant currency basis, with Boots UK sales growing 6.0 percent, and the Company's German wholesale business growing 6.8 percent.

Boots UK comparable pharmacy sales decreased 6.9 percent compared with the year-ago quarter, largely due to lower demand for COVID-19 services compared to the year-ago quarter. Boots UK comparable retail sales increased 15.2 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, with notable market share gains in Personal Care and Health and Wellness. Footfall improved around 20 percent, compared to the year-ago quarter. Boots.com continued to perform well, accounting for 11 percent of retail sales in the quarter compared to 6 percent pre-pandemic.

Gross profit decreased 7.3 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, including an adverse currency impact of 12.7 percent. Adjusted gross profit increased 5.4 percent on a constant currency basis, reflecting strong sales growth across all International markets, partially offset by lower demand for COVID-19 related services in the UK compared to the year-ago quarter and timing of National Health Service (NHS) reimbursement.

SG&A in the quarter increased 54.7 percent from the year-ago quarter to $1.8 billion, due to impairment charges in Boots UK. Adjusted SG&A increased 1.9 percent on a constant currency basis reflecting increased in store activity and absence of COVID-19 related government support compared with the year-ago quarter.

Operating loss in the fourth quarter was $672 million compared to operating income of $46 million in the year-ago quarter, as a result of the $783 million impairment charges in Boots UK. Adjusted operating income grew to $163 million, an increase of 31.3 percent on a constant currency basis.

U.S. Healthcare

The U.S. Healthcare segment had fourth quarter sales of $622 million. On a pro forma basis, this segment's businesses grew sales at a combined rate of 34 percent in the quarter. Shields grew 48 percent, driven by key contract wins, further expansion of existing partnerships, and strong executional focus. VillageMD grew 31 percent, reflecting existing clinic growth and clinic footprint expansion.

Gross profit was a loss of $37 million and adjusted gross profit was a loss of $9 million. Shields gross profit, driven by further growth of existing partnerships and expanding margins, was more than offset by VillageMD expansion. As of the end of the fourth quarter, VillageMD had 334 total clinics open, an increase of 82 clinics compared to the year-ago quarter.

Fourth quarter SG&A was $301 million, and adjusted SG&A was $143 million, reflecting the two acquisitions, as well as continued investments in the Walgreens Health organic business.

Operating loss was $338 million. Adjusted operating loss was $151 million. Adjusted operating loss excludes certain costs related to stock compensation expense and amortization of acquired intangible assets.

Fiscal 2023 Outlook and Long-Term Growth Outlook

For the full fiscal year 2023, Walgreens Boots Alliance expects adjusted EPS of $4.45 to $4.65. Healthy core business growth of 8 to 10 percent in constant currency is expected to be more than offset by adverse currency movements of approximately 2 percent and by a headwind of 15 to 17 percent from lower COVID-19 vaccination volumes.

Additionally, the Company is raising the U.S. Healthcare fiscal year 2025 sales target to $11 billion to $12 billion, from $9 billion to $10 billion previously. The segment is expected to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA by fiscal year 2024. The Company reconfirmed its expectation to achieve low-teens adjusted EPS growth in fiscal year 2025.

Management will provide additional details during the earnings call presentation.

Conference Call

WBA will hold an extended conference call to discuss fourth quarter and fiscal 2022 earnings results beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time today, Oct. 13, 2022. The conference call will be approximately two hours in length, including Q&A, and simulcast through the WBA investor relations website at: http://investor.walgreensbootsalliance.com. A replay of the conference call will be archived on the website for 12 months after the call.

*All references to net earnings or net loss are to net earnings or net loss attributable to WBA, and all references to EPS are to diluted EPS attributable to WBA.

**"Adjusted," "constant currency" and free cash flow amounts are non-GAAP financial measures. See the appendix to this release for a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, including a reconciliation to the most closely correlated GAAP measure. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDA as segment operating income/(loss) before depreciation, amortization, and stock-based compensation; in addition to these items, the Company excludes certain other non-GAAP adjustments, when they occur, as further defined.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, without limitation, estimates of and goals for future operating, financial and tax performance and results, including our fiscal year 2023 guidance, our long-term growth algorithm, outlook and targets and related assumptions and drivers, as well as forward-looking statements concerning the expected execution and effect of our business strategies, including the potential impacts on our business of COVID-19, our cost-savings and growth initiatives, including statements relating to our expected cost savings under our Transformational Cost Management Program and expansion and future operating and financial results of our U.S. Healthcare segment, including our long-term sales targets and profitability expectations. All statements in the future tense and all statements accompanied by words such as “expect,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “would,” “could,” “should,” “can,” “will,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “guidance,” “target,” “aim,” continue,” “transform,” “accelerate,” “model,” “long-term,” “believe,” “seek,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “may,” “possible,” “assume,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, known or unknown, that could cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated or anticipated.

These risks, assumptions and uncertainties include those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2022 and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materializes, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements we make or that are made on our behalf are qualified by these cautionary statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made.

We do not undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

Please refer to the supplemental information presented below for reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this release to the most comparable GAAP financial measure and related disclosures.

Notes to Editors:

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day, with a 170-year heritage of caring for communities.

A trusted, global innovator in retail pharmacy with approximately 13,000 locations across the U.S., Europe and Latin America, WBA plays a critical role in the healthcare ecosystem. The Company is reimagining local healthcare and well-being for all as part of its purpose – to create more joyful lives through better health. Through dispensing medicines, improving access to a wide range of health services, providing high quality health and beauty products and offering anytime, anywhere convenience across its digital platforms, WBA is shaping the future of healthcare.

WBA has more than 315,000 team members and a presence in nine countries through its portfolio of consumer brands: Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, the No7 Beauty Company, Benavides in Mexico and Ahumada in Chile. Additionally, WBA has a portfolio of healthcare-focused investments located in several countries, including China and the U.S.

The Company is proud of its contributions to healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a sustainable marketplace. WBA has been recognized for its commitment to operating sustainably: it is an index component of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and was named to the 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2021.

More Company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.

(WBA-ER)

WALGREENS BOOTS ALLIANCE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
REGARDING NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(in millions, except per share amounts)

The following information provides reconciliations of the supplemental non-GAAP financial measures, as defined under SEC rules, presented in this press release to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). The Company has provided the non-GAAP financial measures in the press release, which are not calculated or presented in accordance with GAAP, as supplemental information and in addition to the financial measures that are calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

These supplemental non-GAAP financial measures are presented because management has evaluated the Company’s financial results both including and excluding the adjusted items or the effects of foreign currency translation, as applicable, and believes that the supplemental non-GAAP financial measures presented provide additional perspective and insights when analyzing the core operating performance of the Company’s business from period to period and trends in the Company’s historical operating results. These supplemental non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for or as an alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with, the GAAP financial measures presented in the press release.

The Company does not provide a reconciliation for non-GAAP estimates on a forward-looking basis where it is unable to provide a meaningful or accurate calculation or estimation of reconciling items and the information is not available without unreasonable effort. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred, are out of the Company’s control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted, and that would impact diluted net earnings per share, the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP financial measure. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Constant currency

The Company also presents certain information related to current period operating results in “constant currency,” which is a non-GAAP financial measure. These amounts are calculated by translating current period results at the foreign currency exchange rates used in the comparable period in the prior year. The company presents such constant currency financial information because it has significant operations outside of the United States reporting in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and this presentation provides a framework to assess how its business performed excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Comparable sales

For the Company's U.S. Retail Pharmacy and International segments, comparable sales are defined as sales from stores that have been open for at least twelve consecutive months without closure for seven or more consecutive days, including due to looting or store damage, and without a major remodel or being subject to a natural disaster, in the past twelve months as well as e-commerce sales. E-commerce sales include digitally initiated sales online or through mobile applications. Relocated stores are not included as comparable sales for the first twelve months after the relocation. Acquired stores are not included as comparable sales for the first twelve months after acquisition or conversion, when applicable, whichever is later. Comparable sales, comparable pharmacy sales, comparable retail sales, comparable number of prescriptions and comparable number of 30-day equivalent prescriptions refer to total sales, pharmacy sales, retail sales, number of prescriptions and number of 30-day equivalent prescriptions, respectively. The method of calculating comparable sales varies across the retail industry. As a result, the Company's method of calculating comparable sales may not be the same as other retailers’ methods.

With respect to the International segment, comparable sales, comparable pharmacy sales and comparable retail sales, are presented on a constant currency basis, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the discussion above in "Constant currency" for further details on constant currency calculations.

Key Performance Indicators

The Company considers certain metrics, such as comparable sales, comparable pharmacy sales, comparable retail sales, comparable number of prescriptions, and comparable 30-day equivalent prescriptions, number of payor/ provider partnerships, number of locations of Walgreens Health Corners, number of co-located VillageMD clinics and number of total VillageMD clinics, at period end, to be key performance indicators because the Company’s management has evaluated its results of operations using these metrics and believes that these key performance indicators presented provide additional perspective and insights when analyzing the core operating performance of the Company from period to period and trends in its historical operating results. These key performance indicators should not be considered superior to, as a substitute for or as an alternative to, and should be considered in conjunction with, the GAAP financial measures presented herein. These measures may not be comparable to similarly-titled performance indicators used by other companies.

With respect to the total number of VillageMD clinics, clinics are defined as the primary care locations where the Company or the Company’s affiliates lease or license space and the providers are employed by either the Company or one of the Company’s affiliates. These clinics are primarily branded as Village Medical where the Company employs the providers but, in some instances, may operate under their own brands.