Walgreen profit drops less than 1 percent

Walgreen (WAG) says its fiscal second quarter earnings slipped from last year in a performance that missed Wall Street's profit expectations.

Walgreen says severe weather and a slowdown in the introduction of generic drugs, which help earnings, affected its performance.

The nation's largest drugstore chain says it earned $754 million, or 78 cents per share, in the quarter that ended February 28. That's down from $756 million, or 79 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted earnings were 91 cents per share. Analysts expected 93 cents per share.

Walgreen Co.'s revenue climbed 5 percent to about $19.61 billion, matching Wall Street expectations.

The Deerfield, Ill., company also says it plans to close 76 stores in the second half of its fiscal year, a small slice of its total of 8,210.