Crystal Cox/Business Insider
- Walgreens reported its financial results on Thursday for the three months ending February 29.
- In the call, the retail pharmacy operator addressed its March sales, noting that the first 21 days looked a lot different from the final 10 days in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
- While sales were much higher than they were the year prior for the first three weeks, the pharmacy saw a decline in the final 10 days of the month, which could quickly offset the spike seen early in the month.
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For Walgreens, the first 21 days of March told one story.
Over those first three weeks, comparable store sales were up 26% from the year before. But after, that began to change.
"There were two very distinct periods in March," Walgreens Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe said on the company's second-quarter earnings call recapping the company's performance in the period ending February 29.
While the company hasn't officially reported its sales for the month of March, in which the coronavirus pandemic took a turn in the US and across Europe, the company used the call to shed light on the experience the retail pharmacy has had so far. Walgreens operates about 18,750 pharmacies around the world.
After March 21, the comparable store sales took a negative turn. The final full week of March saw a mid-teens rate of decline in sales. "Obviously, if this trend continues for an extended period, it will quickly offset the sales uplift seen in the first 21 days of March," Kehoe said.
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Walgreens' stock was down 6% on Thursday after reporting earnings.
Part of the sales decline, Kehoe said, can be attributed to a decline in foot traffic as places like the UK instituted strict lockdown policies. In the US, the company is seeing declining sales as well in locked-down areas.
Kehoe said he couldn't provide estimates of the potential impact of the COVID-19 virus on the rest of the yearly financials, noting that it depends on the severity and duration of the pandemic across markets.
"We must remember that the current restrictions in our market are temporary," CEO Stefano Pessina said on the call. "Over the coming weeks and months, they will change. And eventually, we will revert to a more normal operating environment."
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