Rite Aid Posts First Profit in Four Years

Rite Aid Corp., whose former executives were indicted last week on charges of accounting fraud, had its first profit in four years.

Fiscal first-quarter net income was $2.58 million, or a loss of 1 cent a share after the payment of preferred dividends, contrasted with a net loss of $211.1 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Sales rose 5.8% to $3.93 billion.

Rite Aid said it benefited from asset sales and tax credits in the most recent quarter. Chief Executive Robert Miller also is slowing expansion, cutting prices and paying down debt.

Shares of Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid rose 13 cents to $2.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.