CVS Caremark’s 4th quarter profit jumps more than 12 per cent

CVS Caremark says its fourth-quarter earnings climbed more than 12 per cent, as improved sales from established locations helped the drugstore operator and pharmacy benefits manager

The Woonsocket, R.I., company says it earned $1.27 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That compares with earnings of $1.13 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the final quarter of 2012. Revenue rose nearly 5 per cent to $32.83 billion.

Adjusted earnings totalled $1.12 per share.

Analysts forecast earnings of $1.11 per share on about $32.67 billion in revenue.

CVS Caremark Corp. runs the nation’s second-largest chain of drugstores and gained national attention last week after it announced that it would phase out sales of tobacco products at its more than 7,600 locations.