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Walgreens suspends dividend, breaking 90-plus year streak of shareholder payouts

By TOM MURPHY - Jan 31, 2025, 10:05 AM ET
Last Updated - Jan 31, 2025, 10:05 AM EST
Earns Walgreens
This Feb. 9, 2024 photo shows a Walgreens in Bradenton, Fla. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Walgreens shares sank Friday, a day after the drugstore chain said it was suspending its dividend, breaking a streak of quarterly shareholder payouts that stretches back more than 90 years

Walgreens shares sank Friday, a day after the drugstore chain said it was suspending its dividend, breaking a streak of quarterly shareholder payouts that stretches back more than 90 years.

The drugstore chain said late Thursday that it made the decision in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet and improve free cash flow as company leaders try to turn around the struggling business.

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Walgreens has been dealing with thin prescription reimbursement, rising costs, persistent theft and inflation-sensitive shoppers who are looking for bargains elsewhere. The company is in the early stages of a plan to close 1,200 of its roughly 8,500 U.S. locations.

The company said in a brief statement Thursday that its cash needs over the next several years for things like litigation and debt refinancing were big parts of the decision to suspend the dividend.

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