EXCEPTIONAL ITEMS HIT PROFITS AT BOOTS

The 1994 financial year has been a hard one for The Boots Company, but it has still been able to reveal rising profits. Pretax profit was L415.9 million ($628.2 million), up 2.6%. The effect of exceptional items reduced profit by L68.5 million. Pretax profit for the year before exceptional items was L484.4 million, up 18.8%. Earnings per share were 27.7 pence, rising 23.6%; before exceptional items they were 33.0 pence, up 21.8%. Turnover for the year was L4.17 billion, ahead 5.2%.

Boots took a charge in the first half of the year of L35 million in write-off costs for the cardiovascular agent Manoplax (flosequinan). In the second half of the year the company took a restructuring charge of L36.6 million relating to its DIY subsidiary.

Boots Pharmaceuticals was said to have achieved a satisfactory performance, with sales of L510.5 million, rising 6.2% (1.3% at comparative rates) on the previous year. Operating profit, before the Manoplax write-off costs, was L94.2 million, in line with operating profit a year earlier. After exceptional items, profit was L59.2 million. The review of the pharmaceutical business, which has resulted from the withdrawal of Manoplax (Marketletter April 18), is still ongoing and will take some time to complete, said Boots.