Earnings Up at Rite Aid Because of Tax Credit

A huge tax credit in the fourth quarter helped Rite Aid Corp. overcome disappointing sales and quadruple its earnings.

The drugstore chain reported that it earned $223.4 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $53.5 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier, after costs for preferred stock dividends. Without the $179.5-million tax credit, the company earned $43.9 million, or 6 cents a share.

Revenue dropped to $4.34 billion, down 1% from $4.4 billion last year. Sales in stores that were open at least a year, a key measure of retail health, also slid almost 1%.