Rite Aid Reports 4% Decrease in Same Store Sales for April

Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) today announced sales results for April. Monthly Sales For the four weeks ended April 27, 2013, same store sales decreased 4.0 percent over the prior-year period. April front-end same store sales decreased 3.5 percent, negatively impacted by an earlier Easter this year compared to last year (March 31, 2013 versus April 8, 2012). Pharmacy same store sales, which included an approximate 454 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, decreased 4.2 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores decreased 0.2 percent over the prior-year period. Total drugstore sales for the four-week period decreased 4.6 percent to $1.902 billion compared to $1.993 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales accounted for 67.9 percent of drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 96.9 percent of pharmacy sales. Year-to-Date Same store sales for the eight-week period ended April 27, 2013 decreased 3.0 percent over the prior-year period. Front-end same store sales increased 0.1 percent while pharmacy same store sales decreased 4.4 percent. Prescription count at comparable stores increased 0.1 percent over the prior-year period. Total drugstore sales for the eight weeks ended April 27, 2013 decreased 3.5 percent with sales of $3.841 billion compared to $3.982 billion for the same period last year. Prescription sales represented 67.7 percent of total drugstore sales, and third party prescription sales represented 97.0 percent of pharmacy sales. Rite Aid is one of the nation's largest drugstore chains. On April 27, 2013, the company operated 4,619 stores compared to 4,658 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.