Rite Aid June Same Store Sales Rise 2.4%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) reported Thursday a 2.4 percent increase in June same store sales, reflecting an improvement in pharmacy same store sales and front-end same store sales.

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid reported total drugstore sales of $2.04 billion for the month of June, up 2.2 percent from $2.0 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

Same store sales for the month of June improved 2.4 percent, reflecting a 3.4 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included a 226 basis points negative impact of new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month also edged up 0.3 percent, and prescription count at comparable stores also edged up 0.2 percent.

The company noted that prescription sales accounted for 69.0 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription revenue represented 97.8 percent of pharmacy sales.

For the year-to-date 17-week period, same store sales improved 2.8 percent, with front-end same store sales up 0.6 percent, and pharmacy same store sales increasing 3.8 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the period grew 2.6 percent to $8.64 billion from $8.42 billion in the prior-year period.

Rite Aid, one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, operated 4,566 stores as at the end of the period, compared to 4,574 stores at the end of the same period last year.

RAD closed Wednesday's regular trading session qt $8.41, down $0.03 on a volume of 18.67 million shares.