Rite Aid Corp. beat a Wall Street earnings estimate despite lower general merchandise sales associated with softer demand for products that helped consumers cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Net loss from continuing operations was $13.1 million, or 24 cents per share, compared to last year’s first-quarter net loss from continuing operations of $72.7 million, or $1.36 per share.
Adjusted net income from continuing operations was $20.9 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, the company stated, versus an adjusted net loss of $2 million, or four cents per diluted share, in the year-before quarter.
Adjusted diluted earnings per share topped a MarketBeat published analyst average estimate of 22 cents.
Revenues were $6.16 billion in the quarter versus $6.03 billion in the period a year past, Rite Aid noted.
According to the company, improvement in net loss was due primarily to better-operating results in the Retail Pharmacy Segment, higher intangible asset impairment charges in the prior year’s first quarter and lower restructuring-related costs as a result of the company’s merchandise optimization program. Litigation settlements, a lower LIFO credit and an increase in income tax expense versus the year-prior period partially offset the benefits, the company indicated.
Retail Pharmacy Segment revenues from continuing operations increased 5.5% year over year in the quarter to $4.35 billion, with comparable sales up 1.4%. The comp number included an 8.2% increase in pharmacy sales and a 12% decrease in front-end sales versus the quarter a year previous. Front-end comps, excluding cigarettes and tobacco products, slid 11.5%, driven by decreases in general cleaning products, sanitizers, wipes, paper products, liquor and over-the-counter products versus the pandemic-driven surge in the year-earlier period, Rite Aid reported.
Heyward Donigan, Rite Aid president and CEO, emphasized a first-quarter gain in adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations to $138.9 million from $107.4 million in commenting on the results.
“We are pleased with our first-quarter results, as we delivered adjusted EBITDA at the top end of our guidance range and continued our extraordinary efforts to vaccinate Americans against COVID-19,” said “Our results improved sequentially through the first quarter, and we have momentum in several areas of our business as the country began taking meaningful steps towards a post-pandemic world. With a healthier economy and the reopening of the communities we serve, combined with the execution of our RxEvolution strategy, we are well-positioned to deliver on our strategic priorities.”
