CAMP HILL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) today announced sales results for April.
Monthly Sales
For the four weeks ended April 26, 2014, same store sales increased 5.0 percent over the prior-year period. April front-end same store sales increased 4.7 percent, with 4.6 percent of the increase attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which fell on April 20 this year compared to March 31 last year. Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 138 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 5.2 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 2.3 percent over the prior-year period.
Total drugstore sales for the four-week period increased 4.9 percent to $1.995 billion compared to $1.902 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 67.9 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.
Year-to-Date
Same store sales for the eight-week period ended April 26, 2014 increased 2.9 percent over the prior-year period. Front-end same store sales decreased 0.2 percent while pharmacy same store sales increased 4.3 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 1.7 percent over the prior-year period.
Total drugstore sales for the eight weeks ended April 26, 2014 increased 2.6 percent with sales of $3.941 billion compared to $3.841 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales represented 68.7 percent of total drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.
Rite Aid is one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains. On April 26, 2014, the company operated 4,583 stores compared to 4,619 stores in the like period a year ago. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company’s website at http://www.riteaid.com. Note that all sales data in this release is preliminary, unaudited and subject to revision.
Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Rite Aid expressly disclaims any current intention to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the distribution of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
