Walgreens (WAG: Quote) said it had March sales of $6.02 billion, down 4.3 percent from $6.29 billion in the same period last year.
Sales in comparable stores for the month declined 6.8 percent. The effect of calendar day shifts negatively impacted total comparable sales by 1.3 percentage points. The company said it will report combined comparable store sales for March and April with its April sales results.
Total front-end sales were up 2.5 percent, while comparable store front-end sales increased 1.2 percent, compared with the same month a year ago. Customer traffic in comparable stores were down 1.0 percent while basket size increased 2.2 percent.
"We continued to see growth in our front-end business, and with Easter falling on April 8 this year we anticipate that much of our Easter sales will be reflected in our April results," said Walgreens Executive Vice President and CFO Wade Miquelon. "In addition, our new advertising circular strategy has helped drive profitable sales."
Walgreens opened eight stores during March, including one relocation.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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