CHICAGO — Robust prescription drug sales helped drugstore chain Walgreen Co. earnings increase nearly 25 percent in the second quarter, company officials said Monday.

The nation's biggest drugstore chain by revenue earned $651.9 million, or 65 cents per share, for the three months ended Feb. 28. That's up from $523.5 million, or 51 cents per share, during the same period last year.

"We posted very good gains in prescriptions filled at comparable stores even though this winter saw fewer than normal doctor visits due to the flu," Chief Executive Jeffrey A. Rein said in a written statement.

Revenue beat Wall Street expectations by growing 14.6 percent to $13.93 billion, up from $12.16 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected net income of 61 cents per share on revenue of $13.89 billion.

Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, a key measure of retail industry performance, grew 8.9 percent. Prescription sales for the Deerfield-based company grew 16 percent, with same-store prescription sales rising 11 percent.

Goldman Sachs analyst John Heinbockel called the company's results "stellar" and said Wall Street was expecting a strong quarter from the drug store company.

"We had believed that the combination of the generic (drug) boom and excellent expense control would drive above-consensus earnings, but the magnitude of the beat was somewhat surprising," he wrote in a research note.

Same-store sales of nonprescription items grew 5.7 percent.

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Walgreen said front-end sales were strong, especially during Christmas. Prescription sales growth outpaced retail pharmacy and mail service pharmacy units, and the company saw strong sales of generic drugs.

"Overall, we believe that the company will likely continue to generate momentum, given that the generic wave is still in its early stages and the company is making notable strides in improving front-end profitability," Raymond James analyst John Ransom wrote in a research note published Monday.

Executives said the company, which operates more than 5,600 stores across the country, is on track to open 500 new stores this year and plans to operate more than 7,000 stores in 2010.

Walgreen shares fell 47 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $47.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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