RITE AID Rx SALES LEAP 18% IN FIRST QUARTER TO $146 MIL.; CHAIN OPENS 21 STORES

Executive Summary

Rite Aid Rx sales jumped 18% to $145.8 mil. in the May 31 first quarter compared to $123.3 mil. in the same 1985 period. "During the first quarter, prescription sales strengthened to 37% of drugstore revenues, up from 35.5% in the previous year," the chain stated. Total sales for the retail drug division rose 13.4% to $394 mil. from $347.4 mil., and Rite Aid attributed the division's strong performance to "the continuing deflationary trend in retail pricing." The chain said that for the three months, its rate of inflation declined on an annualized basis from 4.2% to 2.3%. Corporate revenues increased to $418.7 mil. for the quarter, a 14.1% gain over revenues of $367.1 mil. during the same period last year. Net income during the quarter advanced 11.4% to $16.4 mil. from $14.7 mil. in 1985. Excluding income from equity interest in Superdrug and Super Rite Foods net earnings rose 15.7% to $15.8 mil. from $13.7 mil., the chain noted. During the quarter, Rite Aid opened 21 new drugstores and closed three, a net gain of 18 stores. One of the new drugstores was a Drug Palace deep discount unit. Rite Aid now operates 12 Drug Palace stores. Chart omitted.