Walgreens sales in August are better than expected

New York City -- Walgreens said same-store sales rose 5.6% in August, better than expectations, helped by a calendar day shift. Same-store front-end sales rose 4.8%, while same-store pharmacy sales rose 5.2% in August. Overall, net sales rose 7.8%, to $6.1 billion. Total sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended Aug. 31, were $17.94 billion, up 6.4% from the year-ago period. Walgreens opened 21 stores during August, including three relocations, acquired three stores and closed three for a net increase of 18 in the month. In other news, Walgreens said it plans to stop filling