TORONTO (Reuters) - Shoppers Drug Mart
Shoppers said it earned C$170.9 million ($163.5 million), or 79 Canadian cents a share, for the third quarter ended Oct 10, up from C$160.3 million, or 74 Canadian cents a share, in the year-before quarter.
Revenue climbed 7.9 percent to C$3.01 billion, with same store sales rising 4.8 percent.
Analysts had expected, on average, earnings per share of 80 Canadian cents before items and revenue of C$3.00 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shoppers shares, which have fallen about 7 percent in the past year, were up 0.5 percent at C$44.70 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning.
Prescription drug sales on a same-store basis gained 5.8 percent. Total prescription sales climbed 9.7 percent to C$1.48 billion, accounting for 49.1 percent of the company's sales mix, up from 48.3 percent for the same period last year.
Front-of-store sales, which include products such as cosmetics, candy and over-the-counter medications, jumped 6.2 percent to C$1.53 billion, excluding tobacco, on a same-store basis.
Shoppers opened or bought 37 drug stores in the quarter, including 15 relocations. At the end of the quarter, the company had 1,282 stores, including 1,212 drug stores and 66 Shoppers Home Health Care stores, which supply medical equipment and devices, and four Murale stores, a stand-alone luxury beauty brand the company launched last year.
($1=$1.04 Canadian)
(Reporting by Scott Anderson; editing by Peter Galloway)
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