CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid Corp. turned its biggest monthly same-store sales gain of the calendar year in September.
Rite Aid said Thursday that for the four weeks ended Sept. 27, comparable-store sales climbed 5.1% year over year. That topped the drug chain’s 3.9% increase in August as well as its previous largest monthly comp-store sales gain for 2014, a 5% uptick in April.
During September, same-store sales rose 2.3% in the front end and 6.3% in the pharmacy. Rite Aid noted that comparable pharmacy sales reflected a negative impact of 225 basis points from introductions of new generic drugs, which carry lower prices.
Prescription count at comparable stores in September was 4.4% over the prior-year period.
Overall drug store sales in September advanced 4.5% to $2.02 billion from $1.94 billion a year earlier. Prescription sales represented 69.5% of drug store sales.
For the 30 weeks ended Sept. 27, same-store sales edged up 3.8%, including gains of 0.8% in the front end and 5.2% in the pharmacy. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores rose 3.2% during the period.
Drug store sales in the 30 weeks totaled $14.92 billion, up 3.3% from $14.45 billion in the year-ago period. Prescription sales accounted for 68.7% of overall drug store sales.
As of Sept. 27, Rite Aid operated 4,571 drug stores, compared with 4,603 stores a year earlier.
