Longs Drug Jan. same-store sales rise |
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Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:59
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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AFX) - Drugstore operator Longs Drug Stores Corp. on Thursday said same-store sales grew 3.4 percent in January, beating Wall Street estimates.Same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, are a key measure of retail industry performance.Analysts polled by Thomson Financial on average expected same-store sales to rise 2 percent.Pharmacy same-store sales grew 4.2 percent, better than Wall Street's forecast for 3.4 percent growth. Front-end, or non-prescription, same-store sales rose 2.5 percent, higher than the 0.6 percent rise analysts were projecting.Preliminary total retail drugstore sales for the period ended Jan. 25 grew 5.2 percent to $360.3 million, while total revenue grew 6.7 percent to $384.8 million.For the fiscal fourth-quarter quarter ended Jan. 25, retail drug store same-store sales grew 2.1 percent, as pharmacy same-store sales rose 3.7 percent and front-end same-store sales were up 0.8 percent.Fiscal fourth-quarter retail drugstore sales grew 3.9 percent to $1.26 billion, while total revenue grew 8 percent to $1.34 billion.Analysts expected total revenue of $1.1 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.For the year, retail drug store same-store sales grew 2 percent, as pharmacy same-store sales grew 5.1 percent, and front-end same-store sales fell 0.9 percent.Total retail drug revenue rose 3.5 percent to $4.78 billion, while total revenue grew 9.2 percent to $5.1 billion.Analysts predicted total revenue of $4.87 billion.Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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