Rite Aid December Same Store Sales Rise 5.3%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) reported Friday a 5.3 percent increase in December 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 $2.21 billion for the month of December, up 4.9 percent from $2.11 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

Same store sales for the month of December improved 5.3 percent, reflecting a 7.3 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included a 123 basis points negative impact of new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month also grew 1.7 percent, and prescription count at comparable stores increased 5.1 percent.

The company noted that prescription sales accounted for 64.8 percent of drugstore sales, while third party prescription revenue represented 97.6 percent of pharmacy sales.

For the year-to-date 43-week period, same store sales improved 4.3 percent, with front-end same store sales edging up 1.0 percent, and pharmacy same store sales increasing 5.9 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the period increased 3.9 percent to $21.76 billion from $20.95 billion in the prior-year period.

RAD closed Thursday's regular trading session at $7.52, down $0.08 on a volume of 17.81 million shares.