Drugstore chain retailer,
Rite Aid Corporation
's (
RAD
) same-store sales (comps) for the four weeks ended September 29,
2012, slipped 0.7%. The disappointment in September was caused by a
decline in pharmacy comps, offset in part by increase in front-end
comps and rise in prescription count on a comparable basis.
Pharmacy comps for September declined 2.3%, including a negative
impact of around 911 basis points from new generic introductions.
On the other hand, front-end same-store sales for the month
registered an improvement of 2.8%, while prescription count at
comparable stores rose 4.4%.
Rite Aid reported total drugstore sales of $1.899 billion in
September, with prescription sales accounting for 67.8% of
drugstore sales and third-party prescription sales making up for
96.5% of pharmacy sales. The company's September sales represent a
1.5% dip from the year-ago level of $1.927 billion.
Year-to-date, the company's comps grew 0.9%, while net sales rose
0.2% year over year to $14.545 billion. The upside in comps mainly
came from a 2.1% rise in front-end comps, 0.4% jump in pharmacy
comps and a 3.6% increase in prescription count at comparable
stores.
Total sales for the period comprised of 67.9% contribution from
prescription sales. Additionally, third party prescription sales
represented 96.6% of pharmacy sales.
Headquartered in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, Rite Aid is the
third-largest retail drugstore in the U.S. on the basis of revenues
and number of stores. The company operates in 31 states across the
country and in the District of Columbia. As of September 29, 2012,
the company operated 4,639 stores as compared with 4,694 stores in
the comparable period last year.
Rite Aid, which competes with
CVS Caremark Corporation
(
CVS
) and
Walgreen Co.
(
WAG
), currently, has a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a short-term Hold
rating. Moreover, we are maintaining a long-term Neutral
recommendation on the stock.
CVS CAREMARK CP (CVS): Free Stock Analysis
Report
RITE AID CORP (RAD): Free Stock Analysis Report
WALGREEN CO (WAG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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