Rite Aid Reports 1.3 Percent Same Store Sales Increase for September

CAMP HILL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Rite Aid Corporation RAD today announced sales results for September.

Monthly Sales
For the four weeks ended September 24, 2011, same store sales increased 1.3 percent over the prior-year period. September front-end same store sales decreased 0.5 percent. Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 143 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, increased 2.1 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores decreased 0.5 percent over the prior-year period. Same store sales for the month softened because of the negative impact of Hurricane Irene on the company's sales results in early September.

Total drugstore sales for the four-week period increased 1.1 percent to $1.923 billion compared to $1.901 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 68.8 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 96.4 percent of pharmacy sales.

Year-to-Date Sales
Same store sales for the 30-week period ended September 24, 2011 increased 1.4 percent, consisting of a 1.0 percent front-end same store sales increase and a 1.6 percent increase in pharmacy same store sales. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 0.2 percent over the prior-year period.

Total drugstore sales for the 30 weeks ended September 24, 2011 increased 0.9 percent to $14.535 billion from $14.407 billion in last year's like period. Prescription sales accounted for 68.4 percent of total drugstore sales, and third-party prescription sales was 96.4 percent of pharmacy sales.

Rite Aid is one of the nation's largest drugstore chains. On September 24, 2011, the company operated 4,694 stores compared to 4,742 stores in the like period a year ago. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company's website at http://www.riteaid.com. Note that all sales data in this release is preliminary, unaudited and subject to revision.

Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Rite Aid expressly disclaims any current intention to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the distribution of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.