Walgreen Shares Gain on July Sales Report

Walgreen Co., the No. 1 U.S. drugstore chain, posted better-than-expected July sales for stores open at least a year, helping its shares gain more than 7% on hopes the results augur improved profit in the current quarter.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based retailer said same-store sales rose 12.8%, while total sales for the month jumped 18.6% to $2.07 billion from $1.75 billion a year earlier.

Investors were responding to a 21% increase in same-store pharmacy sales and a 2.7% rise in same-store sales for the general merchandise category.

Analysts had expected Walgreen--which this year has had uneven same-store sales, but is still ahead of the overall industry--to post July same-store sales growth of 9% to 10%.

Walgreen shares rose $2.22 to close at $35.57 on the NYSE.