Walgreens (WAG) Reports Sept. Same Store Sales Rose 5.3%

Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) had September sales of $5.35 billion, an increase of 10.3% from $4.85 billion for the same month in 2008. Sales in comparable stores (those open at least a year) increased 5.3%, while comparable store front-end sales increased 2.0%.

September pharmacy sales increased 11.2%, while comparable pharmacy sales increased 7.0%. Comparable pharmacy sales were positively impacted by 2.4 percentage points due to seasonal flu shots, and negatively impacted by 2.3 percentage points due to generic drug introductions in the last 12 months.

Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 12.0% in September, including 5.2 percentage points due to seasonal flu shots and 1.4 percentage points due to more patients filling 90-day prescriptions. Pharmacy sales accounted for 67.6% of total sales for the month.

Calendar day shifts had a negative impact on the month, as September had one extra Wednesday and one less Monday compared to September 2008. Calendar shifts negatively impacted total comparable store sales by 0.2 percentage points, comparable pharmacy sales by 0.3 percentage points and prescriptions filled in comparable stores by 0.3 percentage points.

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