McKesson writes down U.K. business

Article Excerpt

MCKESSON CORP. $130 (New York symbol MCK; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 206.3 million; Market cap: $26.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.1; Dividend yield 1.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mckesson.com) is the largest wholesale drug distributor in the U.S. and Canada. It also operates drugstores in Europe. The U.K. government recently cut its subsidies on prescription drugs. That prompted McKesson to write down the value of its U.K. operations by $570 million. Without that charge, the company’s earnings in the quarter ended June 30, 2018, rose 12.6%, to $589 million from $523 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings gained 17.9%, to $2.90 from $2.46. Revenue improved 3.0%, to $52.6 billion from $51.1 billion. Those gains are partly due to McKesson’s recent purchase of Medical Specialties Distributors. It distributes blood-infusion and medical-surgical supplies. The company paid $784 million for that business. McKesson is still a hold. hold…