Boots to Sell Drug-Making Unit as Store Earnings Drop

Boots Group put its non- prescription medicines unit up for sale to focus on reviving its UK drugstore chain and said profit may drop for a second year. More than half the money raised by the disposal will be returned to investors, Chief Executive Richard Baker said today on a conference call. The unit may fetch 1 billion pounds ($1.9 billion), according to Numis Securities analysts. Sales at Boots stores open a year or more fell in the last quarter, Baker said.

Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=anHUqAFoEfnQ)