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Walgreen sells part of biz
Walgreen Co. said Wednesday it is leaving the pharmacy benefits management business, selling that operation to Catalyst Health Solutions Inc. for $525 million in cash and freeing it to focus on its drugstore network, the largest in the United States.
The companies expect to complete the deal by the end of June assuming regulators approve. The pharmacy benefits management business, known as Walgreens Health Initiatives, has never approached the size of Caremark, the pharmacy benefits management business of CVS Caremark Corp., which is Walgreen’s largest drugstore competitor.
Bon-Ton profits climb
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit climbed 6 percent as a key revenue metric improved.
Bon-Ton said its net income rose to $85 million, or $4.41 per share, for the period ended Jan. 29, up from $80.3 million, or $4.34 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue edged up 1 percent to $1.03 billion from $1.02 billion.
Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 0.8 percent. This figure is a key indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes results at stores opened or closed during the year.
Bon-Ton has corporate headquarters in York and Milwaukee. It runs 275 department stores, including one at the Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre and the Midway Shopping Center in Wyoming.
Mortgage seekers grow
The number of people applying for a mortgage jumped last week. But analysts cautioned that the increase was likely driven by investors, not first-time homebuyers who are needed to help housing markets recover.
The Mortgage Bankers Association says its overall mortgage application index rose 16.1 percent from the previous week, the biggest jump since June. But the index is still far off where it was last spring and summer following four straight months of declines.
The refinance index rose 17.2 percent and the purchase index increased 12.5 percent, to the highest level so far this year. The refinance share of activity increased to 65.5 percent of all applications from 64.9 percent the previous week.
Subway passes Mickey D’s
Subway now has more restaurants worldwide than McDonald’s.
The sandwich chain surpassed the world’s largest hamburger chain in terms of number of stores in the U.S. in 2002 and now it has taken the global lead.
Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide at the end of last year, according to the company. McDonald’s Corp. had 32,737, according a regulatory filing.
Subway is entirely franchisee-owned. Its smaller-format stores cost less to open and operate than other chain restaurants. The company’s emphasis on cost-control, marketing and advertising has also helped grow the brand.
McDonald’s, however, remains the industry’s revenue champion, reporting $24 billion in revenue last fiscal year, about $9 billion more than Subway.