Specialist
Former EVP at Rite Aid Corp
Agenda
- Trends and developments in the retail pharmacy industry, focusing on Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD)
- Demand trends across front-of-store and pharmacy segments
- Profitability given store remodels, closures and cost-saving initiatives
- Medium-to-long-term outlook
Questions
1.
Could you share your up-to-date perspective on the retail pharmacy industry, pulling out 2-3 key trends or developments you’ve been following?
2.
What is at stake for retailers such as Rite Aid as it relates to the opioid epidemic? How strong are cases around the company, as well as the environment for it?
3.
At what pace has the market been growing, and what are your growth expectations for 2022, 2023 and over the next 3-5 years?
4.
Do you expect Rite Aid’s growth trajectory to be above, below or in line with industry growth?
5.
What are your views on Rite Aid’s key merchandising areas? Could you outline the main categories and your outlook for their performance?
6.
Are there any operators across the retail pharmacy landscape that have a big opportunity to improve their assortments and merchandise, including Rite Aid?
7.
How much of a lift could Rite Aid get from the merchandising initiatives with its own brands?
8.
Is there a way to quantify flu and coronavirus vaccines? What are your expectations for vaccine numbers?
9.
Is there customer resistance to a combined flu-coronavirus vaccine? Some people were never interested in getting a flu shot every year, but were probably first in line for the coronavirus vaccine, so they just saw them very differently. How is the industry approaching that?
10.
How do you think about the flu vaccine’s profitability?
11.
Is there a price de-escalator in place in contracts? Is it reducing by a set percentage every year, or how is it otherwise being dropped YoY?
12.
Is cough and cold season different? Do you have a different outlook here in 2022 vs prior years?
13.
What should we fundamentally understand about Rite Aid’s Elixir business? Where does it stand today and how are you thinking about the opportunities or obstacles it faces?
14.
Do you think Rite Aid can be successful with Elixir? What would that take? How long would it take to grow it, and might the company sell it?
15.
What gives you confidence that Rite Aid will be able to gain some lives from other companies that haven’t changed yet, and that Elixir could improve?
16.
How should we value the script files Rite Aid owns?
17.
How should investors think about whether we could see another step-down in Elixir, or more store closures?
18.
Does Rite Aid’s strategy of focusing on more niche geographies, such as rural areas, make sense?
19.
How many Rite Aid stores are losing money today?
20.
How might you value some of the stores Rite Aid continues to own?
21.
What do you expect Rite Aid’s store base to look like over the next 3-7 years?
22.
How should we think about pricing within Rite Aid, given the inflationary pressures the consumer is facing? Do you have any thoughts on the new promotional discount programme, and are you seeing any impacts on customer loyalty?
23.
Is there any low-hanging fruit in terms of OPEX, or areas where cost can still be taken out of the business?
24.
How should we assess Rite Aid’s growth and profitability profile over the next few years?
25.
What are your views on Rite Aid as a potential acquisition target? We joked about anything potentially being up for sale earlier when talking about the Elixir business.
26.
What are the best- and worst-case scenarios for Rite Aid over the next 12-18 months?
