The American supermarket chain Walmart announced Tuesday, November 15 a quarterly net loss of 1.8 billion dollars. This large distribution group has paid more than 3 billion to settle lawsuits related to opiates, but its activity has held up well and it has raised its forecasts.
The group now expects its turnover to rise by 5.5% for its accounting year, which ends at the end of January, against 4.5% previously. And he expects a drop in operating profit of 6.5% to 7.5%, which is less than the decline of 9% to 11% expected so far.
Like drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, which agreed in early November to pay $5 billion each in similar deals, Walmart is accused of mass distribution of opiate painkillers, causing more than 500,000 deaths per overdose in twenty years in the United States.
Walmart disputes accusations about its role in this health crisis and stresses that the agreement does not include any admission of liability. But the group believes that settling the lawsuits is “in the best interest of all parties”. In addition to the money paid out, the company pledged to better monitor prescriptions to combat fraud and questionable prescriptions.