Financial News

MOSCOW — Walgreens Boots Alliance-funded Russian health and beauty products retailer Pharmacy Chain 36.6 expects online sales to account for 10% of total revenue by mid-2018 from just 1% now, its corporate finance director told Reuters.

To achieve its online sales target, the company has teamed up with online retailer Ozon.ru in March, but said growth will also come from sales through its own websites, 36.6 and Gorzdrav, the news source reported.

NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance needs to “rethink its approach and do something radically different” in the front end, EVP and CEO Stefano Pessina said Tuesday during a question-and-answer session at the UBS Global Healthcare Conference at the Grand Hyatt here.

NEW YORK — AmerisourceBergen, AbbVie and Cardinal Health earned perfect scores in the Barron’s 500 list, an exclusive ranking of the 500 largest publicly traded companies, measured by reported in sales in the latest fiscal year and whose primary stock is listed in the United States or Canada. AmerisourceBergen, AbbVie and both earned perfect “grade point averages” of 4.0, based their stocks’ return on investment and sales growth.

Mass market doors might not be the prime destination for all beauty products, but there are market wedges the channel dominates. An example is color cosmetics, where brows and lashes are leading the charge to attract shoppers. Bath sales are also bubbling again as drug stores wrest customers away from mall-based specialty stores, while also nabbing licensed hits that score big with parents. IRI tracked double-digit increases in the category over the past year.

Artificial eyelashes are an important accessory for many celebrities. Among those accenting their eyes with a little help from lashes is Naomi Watts. According to her makeup artist Mary Wiles, Watts has worn Ardell Double Flare Lashes.

Celebrities aren’t alone when it comes to donning fakes. Sales of artificial eyelashes packaged with adhesives rose 31% to $157 million, according to IRI data for multi-outlet retailers for the 52-week period ended March 19. Eyelash adhesives kicked in another $30 million and showed growth of 24%.

ST. LOUIS — Express Scripts on Wednesday announced it had acquired myMatrixx, a pharmacy benefit solutions provider for the workers' compensation industry. The companies will merge core capabilities to deliver “best-in-class” clinical expertise, advanced analytics, and customized client experiences to serve workers' compensation clients and injured patients.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target’s 2017 fiscal first-quarter comparable-store sales suffered a 1.3% year-over-year decrease, driven by small declines in both traffic and basket size. First quarter sales for the period ended April 29 also dipped slightly from $16.2 billion to $16 billion.

Adjusted earnings per share also slipped by 6.3% versus the prior year to $1.21 per share, but this far surpassed company guidance, which had been between 80 cents and $1 per share.