Duane Reade reports Q1 earnings

NEW YORK Duane Reade reported retail store sales increased 2.8% to $426.7 million from $414.9 million in the first quarter 2008.

Net retail store sales excluded pharmacy resale activity.

In a release Tuesday morning, the company reported total net sales increased 4.1% to $444.5 million, compared with $427.1 million in the first quarter 2008. Meanwhile, total same-store sales increased by 1.1% during the first quarter of 2009, with a front-end same-store sales decreased of 0.8%, and a pharmacy same-store sales increase of 3.5%.

During the first quarter, the company opened one new store and did not close any stores. At the end of the first quarter 2009, the company operated 252 stores, compared with 251 stores at December 27, 2008 and 242 stores at the end of the first quarter of 2008.

The first quarter operating loss was $4.4 million, compared with $4.1 million in the prior-year period. The increased loss was primarily attributable to an increase in other expenses of $0.5 million during the first quarter of 2009 due primarily to litigation activity associated with a former CEO.