Rite Aid 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Sales Growth

Rite Aid recently reported total drug-store sales of $7.12 billion, up 11% from a year earlier, mostly owing to an extra week of sales in the period. Same-store sales improved 3%, the drug-store chain's best showing in five years. Last week, Rite-Aid said that March same-store sales improved further, up 3.6%.

Looking to fiscal 2013, Standley said Rite Aid intends to remodel 500 stores into the wellness format and will focus on the Wellness+ program as the core component of the company's overall marketing and promotional efforts.

For the year, the company projected a per-share loss of 13 cents to 31 cents on revenue of $25.4 billion and $25.8 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected a loss of 25 cents and revenue of $25.74 billion. Rite Aid expects same-store sales growth of up to 1.5% over the just-completed fiscal year.

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