Rite Aid March Same-store Sales Up 0.7% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp.'s (RAD) same-store sales in March increased 0.7 percent over the prior year, while front-end same-store sales slid by 5.0 percent, with 4.1 percent of the decline attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which falls on April 20 this year compared to March 31 last year.

Four-week pharmacy same-store sales, including an approximate 133 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, rose 3.5 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores went up 1.1 percent year-over-year.

Total drugstore sales for the four-week period edged up by 0.4 percent to $1.95 billion from $1.94 billion last year. Prescription sales accounted for 69.4 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.