Walgreen Co. will report fiscal first-quarter earnings for fiscal 2013 on Friday, and analysts will be looking for more signs that the nation's largest drugstore chain is repairing its revenue after a temporary business split with Express Scripts Holding Co.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Walgreen, based in Deerfield, Ill., has seen its revenue slump through 2012 after starting the year stuck in a contract squabble with Express Scripts, the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager.
The companies had let a contract between them expire in December, and they didn't start a new agreement until September. The split meant many Express Scripts customers went to new drugstores for their prescriptions. Walgreen is trying to bring as many of these customers back to its store as it can. Earlier this year, it announced a $25 gift card for customers who transfer prescriptions back to Walgreen.
However, competitors like CVS Caremark Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. are trying to keep the new business, and Citi analyst Deborah L. Weinswig said in a recent research note she forecasts that Walgreen will recapture just 20 percent of the prescriptions it lost.
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