Increased sales help narrow Rite Aid's 2nd-quarter loss

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rite Aid Corp., the nation's third-largest drugstore chain, on Thursday said increased sales helped narrow its second-quarter loss.

Rite Aid turned in the results just four weeks after it announced the purchase of 1,858 Brooks and Eckerd drugstores in an attempt to keep pace with the rapidly expanding CVS Corp. and Walgreen Co.

However, shares of Rite Aid slid 24 cents, or 5 percent, to close at $4.52 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange after Wal-Mart announced a pilot program to sell generic drugs for $4 for a monthly prescription.

Rite Aid said its loss attributable to common shareholders was $8.2 million, or 2 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 2, in line with the estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

In the same period a year ago, the company reported a loss of $17.1 million attributable to common shareholders, or 3 cents per share.

Revenues rose by 3.8 percent to $4.29 billion, up from $4.13 billion a year ago. Sales in stores that were open at least a year were better than a year ago, rising 3.8 percent, largely on the strength of a 4.7 percent increase in pharmacy sales, the company said.