Rite Aid May Same Store Sales Rise 3.9%

(RTTNews) - Retail drugstore chain operator Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) reported Thursday a 3.9 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 $2.52 billion for May, up 3.7 percent from $2.43 billion in the comparable month a year ago.

Same store sales for the month of May improved 3.9 percent, reflecting a 5.2 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales, which included a 219 basis points negative impact of new generic introductions.

Front-end same store sales for the month also grew 1.1 percent, and prescription count at comparable stores increased 3.7 percent.

The company noted that prescription revenue accounted for 69.3 percent of drugstore sales, while third party prescription revenue represented 97.5 percent of pharmacy sales.

For the second quarter, same store sales increased 4.1 percent, with front-end same store sales increasing 1.1 percent, and pharmacy same store sales growing 5.6 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the quarter grew 3.7 percent to $6.49 billion from $6.25 billion in the prior-year quarter.

For the year-to-date six-month period, same store sales improved 3.6 percent, with front-end same store sales edging up 0.8 percent, and pharmacy same store sales increasing 5.1 percent.

Total drugstores sales for the period increased 3.2 percent to $12.91 billion from $12.51 billion in the prior-year period.

In Thursday's regular trading session, RAD is currently trading at $6.27, up $0.05 or 0.80% on a volume of 0.31 million shares.