Profit report boosts Rite Aid's shares
Rite Aid rallied to its highest price in almost five years after turning an annual profit for the first time since 2007.
The nation's third-largest drugstore chain closed at $2.31 Friday, up 36 percent for the week. It was Rite Aid's highest closing price since finishing at $2.32 on June 5, 2008, and the company's stock has advanced by 62 percent since the beginning of the year.
The company reported net income for the year, ending March 2, was $118.1 million, compared to a loss of $368.6 million the preceding year.
Rite Aid reported it filled more prescriptions and sold more generic drugs, which carry higher profit margins, during the past year.
But sales at stores open at least one year dropped 2 percent, the company reported, and fourth-quarter revenue totaled $6.46 billion, down from $7.15 billion a year earlier. The company continues to remodel some stores and is closing others.
Camp Hill-based Rite Aid, which originated in Scranton, operates 10 stores in the Scranton area and 10 in the Wilkes-Barre area. The company has 4,623 stores in 31 states.