Rite-Aid May Sales Edge Higher

Rite-Aid (NYSE:RAD) on Thursday revealed slightly higher sales in May as its pharmacy continued to thrive despite generic introductions.

Revenue for the retail drugstore-chain operator grew 1% in May to $1.93 billion, compared with $1.91 billion a year ago.

The Camp Hill, Pa.-based company said same-store sales grew 1.8% during the four weeks ended June 25, led by a 1.5% improvement in front-end sales. Pharmacy sales climbed 1.9% despite a negative impact from new generative introductions.

Last week, Rite-Aid said tighter expenses helped narrow its first-quarter loss, which sunk to $63.1 million from $73.7 million in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the three months ended May 28 was $6.4 billion, flat from a year ago, and just ahead of average analyst estimates polled by Thomson Reuters of $6.36 billion.