Financial News

LISLE, Ill. — Pharmacy benefit manager SXC Health Solutions will acquire Birmingham, Ala.-based specialty pharmacy provider MedfusionRx for $100 million, SXC said Thursday.

SXC also may pay an additional $5.5 million if unspecified performance targets are met through fiscal year 2012, the company said. MedfusionRx operates pharmacies in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, West Virginia and Kansas, and serves more than 9,000 patients.

MINNEAPOLIS — Same-store sales surged 5.5% at Target during November, exceeding the company’s guidance and analysts’ expectations for a low-single digit gain. The company said the number of people shopping its stores as measured by transactions increased nearly 4% and average transaction sizes also were up slightly with broad-based growth throughout the store.

The company is looking for December comps to increase in the low- to mid-single digit range.

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., and BEVERLY, Mass. (Dec. 2) Merck announced on Thursday it has inked a deal to acquire an insulin maker.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid on Thursday posted sales of $6.2 billion, down 2.3%, for its third quarter ended Nov. 27. Same-store sales for the period declined 1.3%, representing flat front-end sales and a pharmacy comparable sales decline of 1.9%.

For the five-week period ended Nov. 27, which includes Black Friday sales, front-end sales were up 1.3% while pharmacy same-store sales, which included an approximate 248 basis points negative impact from new generic introductions, declined 2.5%. Overall monthly comps fell 1.3%.

CINCINNATI — Kroger's third-quarter revenue, including fuel, leaped 5.9% to $18.7 billion, the supermarket giant reported Thursday.

Excluding fuel sales, total sales increased 3.1% in the third quarter, which ended Nov. 6, the company noted. Earnings per share for the company rose to 32 cents per share, totaling $202.2 million. During the same period last year, Kroger reported a net loss of $874.9 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, after the company's $1.05 billion write-down of its Ralphs division.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A regional supermarket chain reported a 3.1% rise in its net sales for the fourth quarter.

Ingles Markets said its net sales rose to $856 million for the quarter ended Sept. 25, from $830.1 million in the same period last year. Basic and diluted earnings per share were 35 cents and 34 cents per share, respectively, compared with 23 cents and 22 cents per share last year.

Similarly, comparable-store sales, excluding gasoline, rose 1.8% in the fourth quarter for fiscal year 2010.

CHADDS FORD, Pa. — Endo Pharmaceuticals has finished its acquisition of Qualitest Pharmaceuticals for $1.2 billion, Endo said Wednesday.

Endo had agreed to buy Qualitest, a privately owned manufacturer of generic drugs, on Dec. 28.

MEMPHIS — Total sales and comparable-store sales both rose during the month of November for Fred's, the chain announced Tuesday.

Fred's disclosed total sales for the four-week fiscal month ended Nov. 27 increased 6% to $146.3 million from the year-ago period, while comparable-store sales for the month rose 4.7% versus a decline of 3.3% during November 2009.