Fred's (FRED) December Comps Fall 3.4%

Fred's Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) today reported sales for the five-week fiscal month of December and the 11-month year-to-date period ended December 31, 2016.

Fred's Pharmacy's total sales for the month decreased 3.9% to $222.9 million from $232.0 million in December 2015. Comparable store sales for the month declined 3.4% compared with an increase of 2.4% in the year-earlier period.

Fred's Pharmacy's total sales for the year-to-date period decreased 0.8% to $1.978 billion versus $1.994 billion for the same period last year. On a comparable store basis, year-to-date sales declined 2.0% versus an increase of 1.5% for the year-earlier period.

Commenting on the announcement, Michael K. Bloom, Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our Pharmacy department saw a 2% increase in comparable prescription growth in the current month, when adjusted for 90 days' scripts. The Company also reported positive comparable sales in Health and Beauty along with key holiday categories, which posted strong year-over-year growth. However, this wasn't enough to completely overcome headwinds related to the impact of reduced SNAP benefits, competitive promotional activity and unusually warm weather, which had a negative influence on seasonal categories. Looking more broadly at our business, we believe the key marketing and merchandising initiatives we have implemented will drive future sales, traffic and profits, and represent a solid strategic response to the near-term challenges we are currently experiencing. Between the launch of Category Management University, our robust analytics tools that allow us to better track consumer behavior, and numerous other strategies aimed at increasing sales, we remain confident in Fred's long-term prospects."

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