CVS Caremark second-quarter net revenues decrease $864 million to $24.0 billion

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), today announced revenues, operating profit, and net income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2010.

Revenues

Net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2010, decreased $864 million, or 3.5% to $24.0 billion, down from $24.9 billion in the prior year period.

Revenues in the Pharmacy Services segment decreased 9.0% to $11.8 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2010 over the prior year period. Adjusting the growth rate for the impact of new generics, net revenues would have decreased 3.1% in the Pharmacy Services segment. The decrease in net revenues was primarily due to the previously announced termination of a few large client contracts effective January 1, 2010 and the decrease of covered lives under our Medicare Part D program resulting from the 2010 Medicare Part D competitive bidding process. This was partially offset by new client starts effective January 1, 2010.

Revenues in the Retail Pharmacy segment increased 3.7% to $14.3 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2010 and total same store sales increased 2.1% over the prior year period. Pharmacy same store sales increased 2.9% and were positively impacted by approximately 290 basis points due to the continued growth of Maintenance Choice™. Pharmacy same store sales were negatively impacted by approximately 180 basis points due to recent generic introductions, and were negatively impacted by the comparison against last year's H1N1 outbreak. Front store same store sales increased 0.4% in the three months ended June 30, 2010, and were negatively impacted by an earlier Easter, the inclusion of stores acquired as part of the Longs acquisition, and by the comparison against last year's H1N1 outbreak.

The generic dispensing rate increased approximately 320 basis points to 71.0% in our Pharmacy Services segment and 310 basis points to 72.7% in our Retail Pharmacy segment, compared to the three months ended June 30, 2009.

Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark

Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark for the three months ended June 30, 2010 decreased $67 million, or 7.5% to $822 million, compared to $889 million in the prior year period. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations, which excludes $106 million of intangible asset amortization related to acquisition activity, for the three months ended June 30, 2010, were $0.65, including $0.03 per diluted share of accruals in our Retail Pharmacy segment for anticipated legal settlements, compared to $0.65 in the prior year period. GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark for the three months ended June 30, 2010 were $0.60, including $0.03 per diluted share of accruals in our Retail Pharmacy segment for anticipated legal settlements, compared to $0.60 in the prior year period.

Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark for the six months ended June 30, 2010 decreased $38 million, or 2.3% to $1.6 billion, compared to $1.6 billion in the prior year period. Adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations, which excludes $211 million of intangible asset amortization related to acquisition activity, for the six months ended June 30, 2010, were $1.25, compared to $1.20 in the prior year period. GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark for the six months ended June 30, 2010 were $1.15, compared to $1.11 in the prior year period.

Tom Ryan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I'm pleased with our results for the second quarter, especially given the challenging retail pharmacy environment. Despite lower-than-expected retail sales growth, we were able to exercise disciplined expense control and to deliver on the bottom line. Our PBM business produced results as expected this quarter, and has made terrific progress in the selling season for 2011 as more clients embrace our ability to provide quality pharmacy care while lowering overall health care costs and improving outcomes. I couldn't be happier with our new contract wins to date, including our long-term agreement with Aetna. We're very pleased to be partnering with Aetna, and believe our integrated approach and multi-channel platform will help Aetna deliver exceptional results for its clients and members."

Financial impact of Aetna agreement

In a separate release late yesterday, the Company also announced a new long-term strategic Pharmacy Benefit Management ("PBM") agreement with Aetna. This groundbreaking collaboration is certainly among the largest and longest-term contracts ever to have been negotiated in the PBM industry. It encompasses approximately $9.5 billion in annual drug spend relating to approximately 9.7 million lives. The Company expects significant long-term financial benefits from this strategic relationship. The agreement is expected to be $0.01 to $0.02 dilutive to adjusted earnings per share in 2010 due to implementation expenses; to be $0.01 to $0.03 accretive to adjusted earnings per share in 2011; to be in excess of $0.05 accretive in 2012; and to generate more than double that level of accretion in 2013 once the contract is fully implemented.

2010 guidance revision

David Denton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, stated "The weak economy has had a dampening impact on prescription utilization and consumer behavior across the retail pharmacy sector, which has affected our sales performance. Having said that, we continue to outpace the industry and to gain market share at a healthy pace."

In light of these business trends, the Company is lowering its retail same store sales guidance for the year to a range of 2.0% to 3.5% from a range of 3.5% to 5.5%. The Company is also lowering its guidance for adjusted earnings per share for 2010 to a range of $2.68 to $2.73 from a range of $2.77 to $2.84. The earnings guidance revision results from the reduced retail sales guidance as well as higher-than-expected legal accruals and expenses, and from the initial dilution related to implementation costs for the Aetna contract.

Real estate program

During the three months ended June 30, 2010, the Company opened 50 new retail drugstores, and closed four retail drugstores and two specialty pharmacy stores. In addition, the Company relocated 28 retail drugstores. As of June 30, 2010, the Company operated 7,109 retail drugstores, 45 specialty pharmacy stores, 18 specialty mail order pharmacies and six mail order pharmacies in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.