Rite Aid November Same Store Sales Rise 5.1%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) on Thursday reported a 5.1 percent increase in same store sales for the month of November, reflecting higher pharmacy same store sales and front-end same store sales.

Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid reported total drugstore sales of $2.57 billion for the month of November, up 5.6 percent from $2.43 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

Same store sales for the month of November increased 5.1 percent, reflecting a 7.1 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included an about 232 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month edged up 0.7 percent, and prescription count at comparable stores increased 4.2 percent.

The company noted that prescription sales accounted for 69.7 percent of drugstore sales, while third party prescription revenue represented 97.6 percent of pharmacy sales.

For the third quarter ended November 29, Rite Aid's same-store sales increased 5.4 percent over the year-ago period. Front-end same store sales increased 1.6 percent, while pharmacy same store sales increased 7.2 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 4.5 percent over the prior-year period.

Total drugstore sales for the quarter rose 5.1 percent to $6.65 billion from $6.33 billion in the same period last year.

For the year-to-date 39-week period period, same store sales improved 4.2 percent, with front-end same store sales edging up 0.9 percent and pharmacy same store sales increasing 5.8 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the period increased 3.8 percent to $19.55 billion from $18.84 billion in the prior-year period.

RAD is currently trading at $5.57, up $0.11 or 2.01 percent on a volume of 3.72 million shares.