Dallas, Texas 05/06/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD), a retail drugstore chain in the United States, has reported its sales results for the month of April 2014. For the four weeks ended April 26, the company announced that its same store sales rose up by 5 percent compared to same period last year, while front-end same store sales also increased 4.7 percent during April.
According to the company, the 4.6 percent increase in the front-end same store sales was attributable to a shift in the timing of Easter, which was on April 20, 2014 compared to last year’s Easter which fell on March 31, 2013.
Pharmacy same store sales rose up 5.2 percent; whereas prescription count at comparable stores was up 2.3 percent compared to same period a year ago.
For the four week period, Rite Aid Corporation’s total drugstore sales increased 4.9 percent to $1.995 billion compared to $1.902 billion for the same period in 2013. In addition, prescription sales accounted for 67.9 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales accounted for 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.
Same store sales up during 8-week period
On the other hand, for the eight week period ended April 26, 2014, the company’s same store sales increased 2.9 percent over the prior-year period; front-end same store sales were down marginally by 0.2 percent; and pharmacy same store sales went up by 4.3 percent compared to last year’s same period. At comparable stores, prescription count rose by 1.7 percent over the same period in 2013.
For the eight-weeks period, total drugstore sales increased 2.6 percent with total sales of $3.941 billion compared to $3.841 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 68.7 percent of total drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales accounted for 97.4 percent of pharmacy sales.
As on April 26, 2014, Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD) operated less stores as compared to last year’s same period. The company operated 4,583 stores compared to 4,619 stores a year ago.