Business

Briefs: Walgreen earnings up 5.5 percent

Posted December 21, 2007 10:00 pm

DEERFIELD -- Walgreen Co. used cost-cutting to help it overcome tougher economic conditions in its fiscal first quarter, reporting a 5.5 percent profit increase Friday. The Deerfield-based company also stepped up its expansion pace, opening a record 169 new stores to rocket past the 6,000 mark. Net earnings for the September-through-October period were $455.5 million, or 46 cents per share, up from $431.7 million, or 43 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. That was 2 cents per share above the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Revenue rose 10 percent to $14 billion from $12.7 billion, slightly below the $14.11 billion expected by analysts.

Crystal Lake firm wins award

CRYSTAL LAKE -- The SharpSafety Division of Covidien Ltd. recently was honored by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment with its 2007 Champions for Change award. This award recognizes SharpSafety for improvements in its own environmental performance at its sharps container manufacturing facility in Crystal Lake and for industry leadership in environmentally responsible healthcare.

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