Rite Aid Loss for the 4th Quarter

Hopefully Rite Aid can pull it together, but they are not alone as all other retailers are also looking at budgets, etc. Revenue is up, but profits are not, so sales is not always an indication. Recently, Walgreens has purchased some of their retail stores. This might indicate that mail order delivery of prescriptions will show a higher focus in the future, as it is less expensive. BD

NEW YORK -- Drugstore operator Rite Aid Corp. said Thursday its loss more than doubled in the fiscal fourth quarter and said it plans to close as many as 117 stores over the next year.

The Camp Hill, Pa., company took a write-down of $1.81 billion in the fourth quarter, mainly from Rite Aid's purchase of 1,850 Brooks Eckerd drugstores in 2007. Those stores haven't done as well as Rite Aid's older stores despite a $2.36 billion price tag.

The company reported a loss attributable to common stockholders of $2.3 billion, or $2.67 per share. Rite Aid lost $960.4 million, or $1.20 per share, a year ago. In addition to the write-down, Rite Aid reported other one-time charges totaling 43 cents per share. Excluding those items, Rite Aid lost $116.9 million, or 14 cents per share. Revenue fell 2 percent, to $6.71 billion.