Rite Aid Sales Slip, Prescriptions Hurt

(Updated with stock price.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Rite Aid(RAD Quote) reported a 0.5% slip in October sales, dragged down by front-end sales and the roll-out of new generic drugs.

Front-end comparable sales tumbled 2.7%, while pharmacy sales inched up 0.5%. Pharmacy comparable sales were hurt by the introduction of new generic drugs.

Prescriptions filled at comparable stores increased 1.8% over the prior-year period.

Total drugstore sales for the month declined 1.7% to $1.96 billion.

Shares of the drugstore are climbing 3.2% to $1.30 in morning trading.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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