Taxes help Rite Aid beat Street with impressive Q4 profit
Camp Hill, Pa. – Rite Aid Corp. beat Wall Street expectations with soaring profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The retailer reported net income of $1.83 billion, exponentially larger than net income of $55.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
A favorable tax asset valuation drove the substantial profit growth. Revenues rose 4% to $6.8 billion from $6.6 billion, mostly due to a same-store sales increase of 4.5%.
For the full year, a favorable tax asset valuation also produced exponential profit growth. Net income rose to $2.11 billion, from $249.4 million. Revenues climbed 4% to $26.5 billion from $25.5 billion, driven by same-store sales growth of 4.3%.
“These positive results contributed to a successful year in which we took significant steps to further position Rite Aid as a retail healthcare company,” said Rite Aid chairman and CEO John Standley. “We look forward to building upon our success by leveraging our recent strategic investments to grow our business. We will also continue to implement our initiatives that deliver value to our customers and help us provide greater access to convenient, affordable and high quality healthcare.”
Looking ahead, Rite Aid expects net income in fiscal 2016 to total between $190 and $275 million. Rite Aid also expects sales to be between $26.9 billion and $27.4 billion, with same-store sales expected to range from an increase of 2.5 % to 4.5% from fiscal 2015. Rite Aid plans to raise wages and benefits in 2016, as well as launch initiatives to grow sales and drive operational efficiencies.