Walgreens profit beats on higher demand for prescription drugs

(Reuters) - Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates on Thursday, as more people bought prescription drugs from its U.S. pharmacies and the company benefited from its acquisition of Rite Aid stores.

Walgreens bought 1,932 Rite Aid stores last year to widen its footprint in the United States and give it more heft to bargain better on price with drugmakers.

The company also forecast 2019 adjusted profit of $6.40 to $6.70 per share, while analysts are expecting $6.45 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income attributable to Walgreens, which was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average index earlier this year, rose to $1.51 billion, or $1.55 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Aug. 31 from $802 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier.

Sales at Walgreens' U.S. pharmacies rose 16.7 percent in the fourth quarter, after the company filled 279.8 million prescriptions.

Same-store sales at its pharmacies rose 1.3 percent, beating analysts expectations for a 0.57 percent rise, according to eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.48 per share, beating analysts' expectations of $1.45 per share. Revenue rose 10.9 percent to $33.44 billion.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)