Walgreens Reports 3.7% Same-Store Sales Rise in Jan.

Walgreens WAG WAG had January sales of $6.15 billion, an increase of 6.3 percent from $5.78 billion for the same month in fiscal 2012. Total front-end sales increased 1.3 percent compared with the same month in fiscal 2012, while comparable store front-end sales decreased 0.4 percent. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 2.8 percent while basket size increased 2.4 percent. Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased by 13.6 percent in January and increased 11.6 percent on a day-fall adjusted (DFA) basis. This year's January had one additional Wednesday and Thursday and one fewer Sunday and Monday compared with January 2012, positively impacting prescriptions filled in comparable stores by 2.0 percentage points. DFA prescriptions filled at comparable stores were positively impacted by 2.3 percentage points due to the higher incidence of flu in this year's January and by 2.0 percentage points due to more flu shots administered in the month. The company said the percentage of Express Scripts customers filling prescriptions in its pharmacies continued to increase in January. January pharmacy sales increased by 8.7 percent, while comparable store pharmacy sales increased 6.2 percent and by a day-fall adjusted 4.2 percent. Calendar day shifts positively impacted pharmacy sales in comparable stores by 2.0 percentage points. DFA comparable store pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 6.0 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months. Pharmacy sales accounted for 65 percent of total sales for the month. Flu shots administered at pharmacies and clinics season-to-date were nearly 6.9 million versus approximately 5.5 million last year. Sales in comparable stores increased by 3.7 percent in January.