Rite Aid narrows in Q3, revenue slips

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday that it narrowed its third-quarter loss to $81.5 million, compared with a $86.1 million loss a year ago. But revenue slid and the drugstore operator again lowered its full-year forecast.



Revenue fell 2% to $6.2 billion, in line with Wall Street expectations. Same-store sales dropped 1.3%.



Rite Aid CEO John Standley said in a statement that the quarter fell below company expectations. "While the lack of cough, cold and flu had a significant impact on our results, the good news is that our front-end sales began to turn around during the quarter and our team continued to do a good job of controlling costs," he said.



Rite Aid said same-store revenue will be softer than expected in the fourth quarter.