Fred's August Comps. Down 0.5% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Fred's, Inc. (FRED) reported sales for the four-week fiscal month of August, which ended August 26, 2017.

Fred's total sales for the month of August decreased to $153.0 million from $159.7 million in the year-ago period. The decrease in total sales is related primarily to the closure of 39 underperforming stores in the first quarter.

Total comparable store sales for August decreased 0.5 percent, compared with a 3.0 percent decrease in comparable sales in the prior year period.

Comparable store sales for August were negatively impacted by the continued increase in Generic Dispensing Rate as well as a 0.5 percent impact from the sale of low productive discontinued inventory versus August of last year.

Michael Bloom, Chief Executive Officer, said, "Total comparable store sales for August show continued improvement from trends over the past 12 months, and overall pharmacy comps remained positive in August. Front Store showed positive comp growth in our General Merchandise, Healthcare and Beauty categories, which were offset by market headwinds in the core consumables categories."