Rite Aid Corp., the nation's third-biggest drugstore chain, reported Thursday that it lost $960.4 million in its fourth quarter, mostly the result of a non-cash income tax charge, as it worked to absorb more than 1,800 stores acquired last year.
The Camp Hill, Pa., company, with 5000 stores, said it expects to lose money in fiscal 2009 for a third straight year and that sales would be below what analysts are predicting. Rite Aid blamed a tough economy and cost to integrate 1,850 Brooks and Eckerd stores it acquired last June in an effort to keep pace with its larger rivals, Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp.
Its shares fell 14 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $2.60 on Thursday.
Rite Aid CEO Mary Sammons said Rite Aid will need more time than anticipated to raise performance of the acquired stores. But she played up the company's resilience in filling more prescriptions and achieving better gross margin rates.
The loss for the company amounts to $1.20 per share for the three months ending March 1. It earned $7.1 million, or a penny a share, in last year's fourth quarter.
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