The executive chairman of Alliance Boots has said that the company does not have to justify itself over the amount of corporation tax it pays after it was revealed that the pharmacy group reported a £2 million global corporation tax charge, down from £96 million, due to a tax credit.

Stefano Pessina said Alliance “do not have to justify ourselves because we could not pay more tax. We respect the law in every single country.”

The finance director, George Fairweather, pointed out that the group had paid around £550 million in taxes overall in the UK, such as business rates.

In other news, the company saw sales reach £25.7 billion last year, with trading profits including its share of joint ventures rising 7.7% to £1.38 billion.

Alliance Boots executive chairman Stefano Pessina said: “Since Alliance Boots was formed eight years ago, we have made huge progress developing our businesses across the globe, while at the same time creating substantial value for first our public and then our private shareholders.

“As I have said on many occasions, I truly believe that we have the brands, intellectual capital and, most importantly, the vision and management expertise to continue to create value for stakeholders across the world in the coming years.”

However, the firm cancelled its annual staff bonus of 20% this year, opting instead to pay staff a 1% “gesture of gratitude”.