Rite Aid March Same Store Sales Rise 0.7%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) on Thursday reported that same store sales for the month of March increased 0.7 percent over the prior-year period. This reflects a 3.5 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included a negative impact of 133 basis points from new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month declined 5.0 percent, with 4.1 percent of the decrease attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which falls on April 20 this year compared to March 31 last year. Meanwhile, prescription count at comparable stores increased 1.1 percent.

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid reported total drugstore sales of $1.947 billion for March, up 0.4 percent from $1.939 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

The company noted that prescription sales accounted for 69.4 percent of drugstore sales, while third-party prescription revenue represented 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.

RAD closed Wednesday's trading at $6.36, down $0.03 or 0.47 percent on a volume of 13.45 million shares.