Rite Aid Q2 beats Street; cuts outlook on lower reimbursements, generics

Camp Hill, Pa. -- Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday reported better-than-expected profit and sales for the second quarter. But the chain cut its full-year profit outlook, citing lower reimbursement rates and anticipated lower profitability from new generics and generic drugs that recently lost exclusivity.



Rite Aid’s second-quarter profit surged to $129.2 million, up from $32.8 million in the year-earlier period,



Revenue totaled $6.52 billion in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Same-store sales increased 4.1%, topping estimates of 3.3%



“In the second quarter, our team of dedicated Rite Aid associates worked together to execute our strategy and deliver results that reflect growth in net income and Adjusted EBITDA and significant increases in same-store sales and prescription count,” said Rite Aid chairman and CEO John Standley. “Heading forward, while we believe that our key initiatives will continue to drive top-line growth, we are revising our guidance based on lower than anticipated pharmacy margin in the second half of fiscal 2015.”



Rite Aid expects full-year revenue in the range of $26 billion to $26.3 billion.