Rite Aid May Same Store Sales Rise 2.1%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) reported Thursday a 2.1 percent increase in May 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 $2.54 billion for the month of May, up 2.0 percent from $2.48 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

Same store sales for the month of May improved 2.1 percent, reflecting a 3.0 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included a 179 basis points negative impact of new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month also edged up 0.1 percent, and prescription count at comparable stores increased 0.7 percent.

The company noted that prescription sales accounted for 68.7 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription revenue represented 97.8 percent of pharmacy sales.

For the first quarter, same store sales improved 2.9 percent, with front-end same store sales up 0.6 percent, and pharmacy same store sales increasing 3.9 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the quarter grew 2.8 percent to $6.60 billion from $6.43 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Rite Aid, one of the nation's largest drugstore chains, operated 4,566 stores as at the end of the first quarter, compared to 4,581 stores at the end of the year-ago quarter.

RAD closed Wednesday's regular trading session qt $8.67, up $0.11 on a volume of 13.13 million shares.