CVS Caremark 3Q Profit Soars

Woonsocket, R.I., CVS Caremark Corp., said Thursday its third-quarter profit more than doubled as sales soared 83% in the wake of the Caremark deal. CVS completed its acquisition of prescription-benefit manager Caremark in March.

For the quarter ended Sept. 29, net income after preferred dividends jumped to $686.1 million from $280.7 million in the prior-year quarter.

Revenue rose to $20.50 billion from $11.21 billion in the third quarter of 2006. Same-store sales grew 4.3% in the company's pharmacy division and 6.5% in the front-end segment.

CEO Tom Ryan said in a conference call with analysts that the performance reflected healthy results across both the retail and prescription-benefit management segments of CVS.

"Our strong sales were coupled with significant improvements in gross margins across the company, with generics continuing to be the major profitability driver," he said.