Table of Contents
NEW YORK — Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. each recorded sales increases in June.
Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. each recorded sales increases in June.
At Walgreens, sales totaled $6.28 billion, an increase of 8.9% from $5.77 billion for the same month in fiscal 2013. Total front-end sales increased 1.8% in June compared with the same month in fiscal 2013, while comparable-store front-end sales increased 1.3%.
Prescriptions filled at comparable Walgreens stores increased by 7.3% in June and advanced 4.7%, adjusting for a calendar day shift. June 2014 had one additional Monday and one fewer Saturday compared with June 2013, and these calendar shifts positively impacted prescriptions filled at comparable stores by 2.6 percentage points.
June pharmacy sales at Walgreens rose by 13.4% as comparable-store pharmacy sales increased 11.3% (8.7%, adjusting for the calendar day shift). Calendar day shifts positively impacted pharmacy sales in comparable stores by 2.6 percentage points, but calendar-day-shift adjusted comparable- store pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 1.4 percentage points as a result of generic drug introductions in the last 12 months. Pharmacy sales accounted for nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of total sales for the month.
Sales in comparable stores at Walgreens increased by 7.5% in June.
At Rite Aid, same-store sales for the four weeks ended June 28 increased 3.9% over the prior-year period.
June front-end same-store sales at the retailer edged up 0.9%. Pharmacy same-store sales, which included an approximate 169-basis-point negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 5.4% at Rite Aid. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 3.5 % over the prior-year period.
Total drug store sales for the four-week period at Rite Aid rose 3.5% to $1.99 billion, compared to $1.92 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 68.4% of drug store sales at Rite Aid; third party prescription sales represented 97.5% of pharmacy sales.
