OTC, vision categories drive Drugstore.com's Q1

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Drugstore.com on Thursday posted a net sales increase of 16% to $128.4 million for its first quarter ended April 3.

"In the first quarter, we delivered strong over-the-counter and vision [categories] growth of 16% and 17%, respectively," stated Dawn Lepore, Drugstore.com CEO and chairman. "With our continued investment in our marketing initiatives, we acquired approximately 540,000 new customers this quarter, up 13% over the first quarter of 2010.”

Drugstore.com made strategic progress on a number of fronts, Lepore reported, including the implementation of a new site navigation, the launch of three branded sites for Luxottica and the signing of an agreement with GSI Commerce for the company’s West Coast distribution center.

During the quarter, Drugstore.com incurred transaction expenses totaling $2.2 million related to the previously announced merger agreement with Walgreens. That acquisition is expected to close by the end of June. Including these expenses, Drugstore.com reported a net loss of $3.2 million and a net loss per share of 3 cents, compared with a net loss of $2.6 million and a net loss per share of 3 cents reported in the same period of the prior year.