Walgreens Boots Alliance reported a $265 million loss in its fiscal first quarter ended November ... [+] 30, 2024, despite what the company chief executive said was early progress en route to a company turnaround that will take time, the company said January 10, 2025. In this photo, a sign sits in front of a Walgreens store on November 10, 2023 in Wheeling, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)Getty ImagesWalgreens Boots Alliance Friday reported a $265 million quarterly loss while citing what the drugstore chains chief executive called early progress en route to a company turnaround that will take time.The retail pharmacy giant, which has been closing stores and cutting costs, reported a net loss of $265 million, or 31 cents a share in its fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 30 of last year. That compares to a year-ago loss of $67 million or 8 cents a share.The fiscal first quarter earnings statement comes in the wake of a report a month ago that Walgreens is considering a sale to private equity firm Sycamore Partners. The company has previously discounted that report, saying executives dont comment on rumors or speculation.And on Friday morning, neither Walgreens press release, earnings statement nor CEO comments offered any indication that such a deal was in the works. Rather, Walgreens executives say they are focused on their own turnaround."Our first quarter results reflect our disciplined execution against our 2025 priorities: stabilizing the retail pharmacy by optimizing our footprint, controlling operating costs, improving cash flow and continuing to address reimbursement models, Walgreens Boots Alliance chief executive Tim Wentworth said in comments accompanying the earnings report. While our turnaround will take time, our early progress reinforces our belief in a sustainable, retail pharmacy-led operating model."MORE FOR YOUForbes2024 Forbes Healthcare Summit | The Future Of PharmacyWalgreens said its quarterly loss includes costs related to the footprint optimization program and an after-tax charge for fair value adjustments on variable prepaid forward derivatives related to the monetization of its shares in the big drug distributor Cencora.Walgreens, which holds a minority stake in Cencora, began reducing its stake in the distributor, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, and other businesses over the last three years to raise money for reducing debt as well as other priorities such as the creation of a new specialty pharmacy business and putting more healthcare services in its stores.In the first quarter, Walgreens sales rose 7.5 percent to $39.5 billion driven largely by improving pharmacy sales and a solid quarter in the companys international segment.In particular, U.S. retail pharmacy sales increased 6.6% to $30.9 billion thanks largely to pharmacy sales that jumped more than 10% in the quarter benefiting from higher branded drug inflation and prescription volume. The pharmacy performance helped to offset the ongoing problems in the front end of the stores with retail sales decreasing more than 6% thanks to a a weaker cough cold flu season and lower sales in discretionary categories.Meanwhile, the companys U.S. Healthcare segment, which includes the primary care business VillageMD and the CareCentrix home care business, had first quarter sales of $2.2 billion compared to $1.9 billion in the year-ago period with growth in all businesses compared to the year-ago quarter. The improvement in U.S. healthcare helped narrow operating losses in the segment to $325 million compared to $436 million in the prior year.