UK sales were strong, helped by the warm summer

The company said trading profit rose 2.7% to �267m ($507m) in the six months to the end of September.

It added it was making "good progress" on achieving cost savings and was on track to meet its full-year targets.

Trading profits at its UK retail business rose 3.8%, helped by growth in healthcare and the warm summer weather.

"This has been an encouraging start to life as Alliance Boots," said chief executive Richard Baker.

"We have also seen good early progress on work to achieve the promised cost synergies from the merger and are on track to deliver against our expectations for the full year."

Alliance Boots is seeking to make cost savings of �100m a year by the end of the fourth year after the merger.