Man taken to hospital after car firebombed in north Philly

Former colleague running against Philadelphia's prosecutor

NEW YORK (AP) — Rite Aid Corp. on Thursday reported a drop in fiscal second-quarter profit as higher costs weighed down a boost in revenue. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is in the process of buying Rite Aid for $9.41 billion. The deal would make the nation's largest drugstore chain even larger and pit it against rival chain CVS in key markets. Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid said its profit dropped 31 percent to $14.8 million, or 1 cent per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to 3 cents per share. The results met Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was also for earnings of 3 cents per share. The drugstore chain's revenue rose 4.8 percent to $8.03 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $8.09 billion. Overall same-store sales fell 2.5 percent, including a 3.6 percent decrease in pharmacy sales, and a 0.1 percent increase in front-end sales. The number of prescriptions filled in same stores fell 1.8 percent. Rite Aid shares edged up 4 cents to $8.14 in premarket trading morning about an hour and a half before the market open. Its shares have increased more than 3 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has risen 11 percent in the last 12 months. _____ Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on RAD at http://www.zacks.com/ap/RAD _____ Keywords: Rite Aid, Earnings Report

Rite Aid 2Q profit drops on higher costs, revenue rises