Walgreens just freed up capital ‘to invest in growth initiatives’

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA) is trending up in premarket today even though it reported a net loss for its fiscal Q1 and trimmed its dividend nearly in half.

Walgreens has paid dividend for 91 years

The multinational announced 25 cents per share of quarterly dividend on Thursday – down from 48 cents. Tim Wentworth – the Chief Executive of Walgreens Boots Alliance said in a press release today:

Walgreens has been paying a dividend consistently since the 1930s. Investors are content because the Nasdaq-listed firm did come in ahead of Street estimates in the first quarter.

Walgreens stock has gained over 25% since late November. Among notable supporters of the stock is famed investor Jim Cramer (read more).

Walgreens Q1 financial highlights

• Lost $67 million versus the year-ago $3.72 billion
• Per-share loss also narrowed from $4.31 to 8 cents
• Adjusted EPS printed at 66 cents as per the press release
• Sales jumped 10% year-over-year to $36.71 billion
• Consensus was 53 cents a share on $34.95 billion in sales

Walgreens noted a 5.0% decline in its comparable retail sales in the recent quarter due to a weaker flu season. Boots UK saw comparable pharmacy sales edge up 0.8% while Boots.com printed an 18% sales growth. CEO Wentworth added: