Rite Aid Same-Store Sales Rise 4.8% in January

By Michael Calia 

Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday said sales at stores open at least a year grew 4.8% for the four weeks ended Jan. 24, with pharmacy-sales growth outpacing growth in the front end.

For the four-week period, Rite Aid said total drugstore sales rose 4.3% to $1.94 billion.

The pharmacy business reported a 5.7% rise in same-store sales, which included negative impact of 1.14 percentage points stemming from new generic drugs. The prescription count rose 3.5%.

Front-end sales rose 2.9%, Rite Aid said.

The results mark a decrease from the company's sales figures in December, when it posted 5.3% same-store sales growth and 4.9% growth in overall drugstore sales.

Rite Aid, the nation's No. 3 drugstore chain, reported its sales for January more than a week after 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.

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