By Armando Duke

(AXcess News) Houston - Drug chain CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) reported an 11% boost in fourth quarter profit Monday, beating the street estimate thanks to its pharmacy benefits management unit which post a 14.5% gain in revenue.

CVS reported $25.82 billion in fourth quarter sales, up 7.5 percent.  Profit for the period was $1.05 billion, a gain of 11 percent.

CVS Caremark reported 74 cents per share in earnings compared to street estimates of 78 cents per share, but the results were before one-time expenses, which otherwise would have placed Caremark profit for the fourth quarter a penny above estimates.

For the full-year, Caremark earned $2.55 per share, compared to $2.18 per share in the prior year.  Those results were 16 percent higher than the prior year's operating profit.  Sales, year-over-year, grew 13 percent to $98.73 billion from $87.47 billion.