Rite Aid Same-Store Sales Rise 3.3% In February

By Chelsey Dulaney 

Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday said sales at stores open at least a year grew 3.3% in February with pharmacy-sales growth again outpacing growth in the front end.

For the five-week period ended Feb. 28, Rite Aid said total drugstore sales rose 1.7% to $2.56 billion.

The pharmacy business reported a 4.1% rise in same-store sales, which included a negative impact of 1.44 percentage points stemming from new generic drugs. The prescription count rose 2.2%.

Front-end sales at existing locations rose 1.6%, Rite Aid said.

The results marked a slowdown from the company's January sales, when it posted 4.8% same-store sales growth and 4.3% growth in overall drugstore sales.

In February, Rite Aid agreed to buy pharmacy-benefit manager Envision Pharmaceutical Services for about $2 billion from investment firm TPG, a deal that would better position the company to compete with drugstore giants like CVS Health Corp., which agreed to buy pharmacy-benefit manager Caremark Rx Inc. in 2006 for $21 billion.

Earlier this year, rival Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said it would cease issuing monthly sales reports. Instead, the company will opt to explain its performance in quarterly reports.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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