Rite Aid narrows loss in Q3

Camp Hill, Pa. Rite Aid Corp. reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, helped by pharmacy sales.

The company's net loss of $83.9 million in the fiscal third quarter ended on Nov. 28, was narrower than the loss of $243.1 million a year earlier.

Rite Aid's quarterly sales fell 1.8% to $6.35 billion, while same-store sales fell 0.5% in the quarter.

Rite Aid got a boost from its pharmacy division, which reported that same-store sales rose 0.4%, and from prescriptions filled which were up 1.5%.

Prescription sales made up about 68.6% of total drugstore sales, while third-party prescription revenue accounted for 96.2% of pharmacy sales.

The company attributed its total revenue decline to slumping front-end sales and store closings. Rite Aid closed 14 stores in its fiscal third quarter, while opening three. It has closed more than 100 stores over the past year and operated 4,801 at the end of the quarter.