Tuesday, drugstore chain operator Walgreen Co. (WAG) announced that its comparable store sales for the month of November declined 0.9%, while sales for the month rose 3.7%.
According to the company, sales for November were $4.96 billion, an increase of 3.7% from $4.78 billion in the year-ago month. Walgreen's comparable store front-end sales decreased 0.9% for the month.
The company noted that though Black Friday and the following weekend saw stronger consumer traffic than a year ago, only fewer items were purchased per transaction. Transactions in comparable stores rose 1.7% in November.
The pharmacy sales for the month increased 2.4%. However, on a comparable store basis, pharmacy sales decreased 0.9%. The company said that comparable pharmacy sales were negatively impacted by 2.3% points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months. Pharmacy sales accounted for 64.4% of total sales for the month.
Total prescriptions filled at comparable stores decreased 3.4% in November. The switch of allergy medication Zyrtec from prescription to over-the-counter status negatively impacted total prescriptions by 0.6% points.
Walgreen stated that calendar day shifts had a negative impact on the month, as pharmacy patients fill more prescriptions during the week than on weekends. During this year, November had two fewer weekdays compared to November 2007. Calendar day shifts, along with one less holiday shopping week in November this year, negatively impacted total comparable store sales by 2.5% points, front-end sales by 0.8% points, comparable pharmacy sales by 3.4% points and prescriptions filled in comparable stores by 3.3% points.
Calendar year-to-date sales grew 9% to $54.47 billion from $49.95 billion in 2007.
Walgreen's fiscal year began September 1. The company's fiscal 2009 year-to-date sales were $14.97 billion, up 6.8% from $14.03 billion in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales for the fiscal year-to-date increased 1.8%.
During November, Walgreen opened 94 stores, including 15 relocations, and acquired eight stores.
At November 30, Walgreen operated 7,123 locations in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Walgreen's President and COO Greg Wasson said, "Consumers continued to shop our stores for the essentials throughout the holiday weekend. As we approach the last-minute Christmas rush, shoppers will take even greater advantage of our wide selection of products and convenient locations."
WAG closed Monday's trade at $23.06. In pre-market trading on Tuesday the stock was up 0.65% at $23.21.
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