Boots UK has announced that its 2024 annual pre-tax profits totaled £269 million – more than four times more than its previous year’s £60m profits.
But the company filings for the year ended August 31 2024, published today (June 5) on Companies House, revealed that the soaring profit included “a one-off past service credit in respect of the pension scheme of £219m”.
Read more: UPDATED: Boots reports 60% profit spike as sales surge
“Excluding this one-off credit, operating profit decreased by £33m to £55m,” it said.
It attributed the decrease to a “store impairment assessment” of £487m – up from £42m the year prior – and a one-time “accelerated depreciation on IT software of £11m”.
Boots parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) announced it had secured a deal to offload Boots employees’ pension scheme for £4.8 billion - “the largest single transaction of its kind” - over the next two years in November 2023.
Pharmacy revenue takes a dip
The report also revealed that sale growth slowed in 2024.
It said that over the year, the company’s £7.3m revenue reflected a 3.7% increase – compared to an 8.3% increase the year before.
It added that overall pharmacy revenue – which represented about a third (31%) of sales – also took a hit, dipping 2.2% to £2.3m.
Read more: Boots offloads pension scheme for £4.8bn amid fresh sales rumours
But Boots stressed that “comparable pharmacy revenue”, which it defined as sales made at stores that “have been open for at least 12 months without closure for seven or more consecutive days and without major remodel or being subject to a natural disaster”, looked more positive.
Revenue at “comparable” stores “increased by 4.9%...mainly driven by NHS advanced services [like] Pharmacy First and Boots Online Doctor, which more than offset declines in state funded income”.
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