Jean Coutu reports revenues for Q2, predicts growth for 2009

LONGUEUL, Quebec The Jean Coutu Group on Monday reported a 5 percent increase in revenues across its Canadian pharmacies to $515.4 million for the second quarter ending Aug. 30.

Jean Coutu’s share of Rite Aid’s results during the second quarter of fiscal 2009 amounted to a loss of $66.2 million.

“During the second quarter we continued to pursue our growth objective and stepped up the pace of development of the PJC drugstore network, completing a number of initiatives,” stated Jean Coutu president and chief executive officer Francois Coutu. “The Company is well on its way to achieving significant growth in its network selling square footage in fiscal 2009 as we continue to build upon the Jean Coutu Group’s position as a leader in pharmacy,” he said. Regarding Rite Aid, Coutu added, “Rite Aid took steps to increase its financial flexibility, has largely completed the integration of Brooks Eckerd and announced key appointments to strengthen its senior leadership team.”

For the second quarter of fiscal 2009, Jean Coutu recorded net loss of $35.3 million. Canadian network sales increased year-over-year and operating income increased by 4.1 percent to $46.4 million, the Canadian retailer reported. Overall same-store sales were up 3.6 percent, representing a 5.7 percent increase across comparable pharmacy same-store sales results and a slight decrease of 0.5 percent across its front-end same-store sales.

Jean Coutu Group held a 29.9 percent equity interest in Rite Aid as of Aug. 30.