Walgreens Boots Alliance said its retail pharmacy international division – which includes Boots UK – has seen sales in pharmacies drop by 3.7% in the three months up to February 28, compared with the same period last year.

The health and beauty giant said this was "primarily due to the negative impact of a reduction in pharmacy funding in the UK", in its latest financial report published this afternoon (April 5).

It also used the funding drop to partly explain why the division's "adjusted gross profit" had decreased by 4% "on a constant currency basis".

Retail sales growth

However, the business pointed out the international division had seen a 0.6% increase in "comparable retail sales", which it said "reflects growth in Boots in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Thailand".

Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Stefano Pessina said the latest results are “in line with our expectations, despite some challenging conditions faced in a number of markets”.

Earlier this year, Boots blamed the category M clawback for a 0.5% decrease in Walgreens Boots Alliance's international pharmacy sales.