Bulletin: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Ratings Unaffected By Announcement Of New Share Repurchase Program And Increased Dividends

NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) June 28, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said that its ratings on Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (BBB/Stable/A-2) are not affected by the company's announcement that it has authorized a new $10 billion share repurchase program and plans to increase its dividends by 10%. The company's updated capital return plan, while significant, is within our estimated capacity for the current rating. We expect Walgreens' debt-to-EBITDA to remain in the low-3x area over the next one to two years. Our ratings on Walgreens reflect its market position as the largest drug store operator in the U.S. following its acquisition of Rite Aid. We anticipate that the company will generate annual free operating cash flow of about $5.5 billion,

...NEW YORK (S&P Global Ratings) June 28, 2018--S&P Global Ratings today said that its ratings on Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (###/Stable/A-2) are not affected by the company's announcement that it has authorized a new $10 billion share repurchase program and plans to increase its dividends by 10%. The company's updated capital return plan, while significant, is within our estimated capacity for the current rating. We expect Walgreens' debt-to-EBITDA to remain in the low-3x area over the next one to two years. Our ratings on Walgreens reflect its market position as the largest drug store operator in the U.S. following its acquisition of Rite Aid. We anticipate that the company will generate annual free operating cash flow of about $5.5 billion, which we expect it will use to fund shareholder initiatives without taking on meaningful amounts of new debt. Only a rating committee may determine a rating action and this report does not constitute a rating action....

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