Rite Aid April Same-store Sales Up 5% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp.'s (RAD) same-store sales for April 2014 increased 5.0 percent year-over-year, and front-end same store sales rose 4.7 percent, with 4.6 percent of the increase attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which fell on April 20 this year, compared with March 31 last year.

Pharmacy same-store sales in April, including an approximate 138 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, advanced by 5.2 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores went up 2.3 percent over the prior-year period.

For the four-week period, total drugstore sales climbed 4.9 percent to $1.995 billion from $1.902 billion a year ago. Prescription sales accounted for 67.9 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales, the company noted.