Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NasdaqGS:WBA) CEO confirmed exploring strategic options for Boots. Chief Executive Officer Rosalind Brewer said during a presentation at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference: "As I promised when I first came into this job 10 months ago, WBA is committed to moving quickly to execute and take bold steps towards creating sustainable value across all our stakeholders. And that's certainly showing up in the numbers and the updates we're going to share with you today.

As we reported last week, first quarter sales increased 7.6% in constant currency and adjusted EPS grew 53%, well ahead of our expectations. This strong performance was underpinned by enhanced execution across all our business segments. While testing and vaccinations are providing tailwinds, I'm very proud of the continued success of our core businesses with strong growth in U.S. retail, a robust recovery in our international markets.

We have raised our full year adjusted EPS guidance to low single-digit growth versus flat previously. I'm also announcing today that we are exploring strategic options for the Boots business. This action is in line with our priorities around focusing our portfolio, optimizing our capital allocation and accelerating our transformation to health care".