Walgreens’ April same-store sales up 7.6%

Deerfield, Ill. -- Walgreen Co. said that its same-store sales rose 7.6% in April, boosted by Easter-driven growth in front-end sales.



The company’s total sales rose 8.8% to $6.49 billion in the month of April, up from $5.96 billion in the same period of last year. Pharmacy sales accounted for 64.5% of total sales for April.



Customer traffic in comparable stores increased 2.6% while basket size increased 5.6% The company said its results benefitted from a later Easter this year, which fell on April 20 compared with March 31 last year.



Fiscal 2014 year-to-date sales for the first eight months were $50.88 billion, an increase of 5.8% from $48.08 billion in fiscal 2013.



Walgreens opened eight stores during April, including two relocations, acquired six and closed two.