British pharmacy chain Alliance Boots has reported a 7.4% rise in underlying annual profit, saying it expected its good trading performance to continue in the current year.
Underlying trading profit, which stripped out once-off items, rose to £641m for the year to the end of March, slightly ahead of analysts' forecasts.
Alliance Boots, created from the merger of drug store chain Boots and drugs wholesaler Alliance Unichem in July 2006, agreed last month to a takeover by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and deputy chairman and biggest shareholder Stefano Pessina in an £11.1 billion deal.
Like-for-like revenues were up 3.6% to £14.6 billion. The group said sales at its 41 stores in the Republic of Ireland were up 9% to £155m (€227.6m). It did not give a profit figure, but said profits and margins had increased.
