Walgreen Sept Sales Up 9.4%, Same-store Sales Up 7.9%

Drug store chain Walgreen Co. said Friday that sales rose 9.4% in September to $6.48 billion, up from $5.92 billion a year ago. Same-store sales rose 7.9% in the month, boosted by calendar day shifts. Comparable store front-end sales rose 1.7%, while comparable store pharmacy sales rose 11.3%. Customer traffic in comparable stores fell 2.7%, but basket size rose 4.4%. The company said it opened nine stores in the month and closed four. Shares were not active in premarket trade, but are up 4% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 5.3%.