CVS sales & earnings
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Retailer's sales jumped 24% to $7.91 bil. in the fiscal third quarter (ended Oct. 2) due to the acquisition of Eckerd drugstores, pharmacy benefit management, mail order businesses. The Eckerd purchase negatively impacted net earnings, which decreased 1.7% to $184.6 mil. Same-store sales increased 5.2%, with pharmacy same store sales up 6.8% and front-end same-store sales up 1.8%; same store sales figures will include Eckerd stores beginning in August 2005. President & CEO Tom Ryan reports CVS' "core business is thriving, and the integration of Eckerd's store and PBM businesses is ahead of schedule." The Eckerd deal closed in July (1"The Tan Sheet" Aug. 9, 2004, In Brief)...