Reuters Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Thursday it plans to close about 650 to 700 underperforming stores in the U.S., having cut its profit forecast for fiscal 2024 as weak consumer spending hurt retail operations.

It also plans to shut up to 650 Boots stores in the UK and expects to record related pretax charges of between 3.8 billion and 4.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing.

The drugstore operator39;s CEO Tim Wentworth, who came on board last October, had set in motion a complete overhaul at Walgreens through store closures, the removal of multiple midlevel executives and a 1 billion costcutting plan.

Walgreens had also halved its dividend to 25 cents per share earlier this year in an attempt to conserve cash as sticky inflation dampens spending on overthecounter products and reimbursement payments for filling prescriptions come under pressure.

The results this morning were just absolutely terrible. I mean, it39;s kind of been the theme over the last three to eight earnings reports to be brutally honest, said David Wagner, portfolio manager and equity analyst at Aptus Capital Advisors.

They brought in new CEO Tim Wentworth and he has a good history on the healthcare services side, but investors are focused on his next steps, said Wagner, whose firm owns 241,583 Walgreens shares through a unit.

Walgreens expects these challenges to persist into fiscal 2025 and is open to reviewing more store closures.

We have a really strong level of conviction…