Boots sees annual profit rise by 24% to £260m despite dip in pharmacy revenue
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Boots UK’s accounts for the 2024-5 financial year reveal it made a post-tax profit of £261m – 23.7 per cent higher than the year before.
Operating profits rose from £274m to £355m, a 29.6 per cent jump. Company directors said this was in part due to higher gross margin of £90m as well as being “driven by a £302m lower impairment charge in respect of the store impairment assessment”.
Total revenue stood at £7.54bn, which was 3.2 per cent higher than the year before. Of this, £263m was generated by the sale of services and the rest by goods.
As of August 31, 2025, Boots operated 1,824 stores, which was 16 fewer than at the same point in 2024.
The financial report reveals that pharmacy revenue fell by 0.4 per cent to £2.27bn, and that pharmacy services income accounted for 30.2 per cent of total revenue, one percentage point lower than in 2023-24 which was attributed to “declines in state-funded income”.
However, company directors claimed that in ‘comparable’ stores – those that did not close for a week or longer during the financial year – pharmacy revenue in fact rose five per cent, which was “mainly driven by NHS Advanced Services” such as Pharmacy First, as well as Boots Online Doctor.
Retail revenue grew from £5bn to £5.26bn year-on-year, an increase of 4.8 per cent. Comparable stores saw a 5.8 per cent increase in retail sales “driven largely by growth in the retail category”. The number of Boots Advantage card holders rose from 16.7 million to around 17 million.
Boots.com revenue was up 18.3 per cent, which the company said was “primarily driven by Beauty along with customers’ increasing demand for the convenience of online purchasing”.
The cost of sales rose from £4.63bn to £4.77bn, while employee costs rose by £100m to £1.22bn. Shareholders’ equity rose by 15 per cent, from £866m to £995m.
Commmenting on the factor’s affecting the company’s performance, Boots directors cited seasonality – with the winter holiday period “typically the strongest” – and competition from rival health and beauty retailers, in particular “pricing actions” such as promotional offers and events.
The directors said quarterly adjustments to medicine reimbursement prices by Government affect pharmacy revenue, as does decisions around funding for commissioned services.
They added: “The current macroeconomic climate has not caused a significant impact on the business to date, however, it has impacted the valuation of the company’s property-related assets”
“This has negatively impacted the short-term outlook for growth and driven an increase in operational costs”
The accounts cover the 12 months to August 31, 2025 – a few days after it was acquired by its now parent company, The Boots Group Limited, the product of a spinoff from Walgreens Boots Alliance following its acquisition by Sycamore Partners.
It was reported in April that Sycamore Partners has hired consultants to prepare for a possible stock market listing in 2027.