Shoppers Drug Mart profit jumps almost 19 percent

(Adds details from conference call, quotes, updates stock price)

By Jennifer Kwan

TORONTO, April 30 (Reuters) - Shoppers Drug Mart (SC.TO) reported an 18.7 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Monday, as Canada's largest drugstore chain continued to enjoy robust prescription and front-store sales.

Shoppers said it earned C$85.1 million ($76.6 million), or 39 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter ended March 24, up from a profit of C$71.7 million, or 33 Canadian cents a share, in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Solid top-line growth, an enhanced sales mix and an ongoing commitment to cost reduction helped power profit higher in the quarter, the company said, noting those factors offset higher operating costs and increased amortization in new and relocated stores.

On average, analysts had expected a profit of 38 Canadian cents a share before exceptional items, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales at Toronto-based Shoppers increased by 10 percent to C$1.8 billion, while same-store sales -- a key measure of retail performance -- rose 6.4 percent, the company said.

On a same-store basis, prescription sales gained 7 percent and front-of-store sales rose 5.8 percent.

Shoppers said its capital expenditures in the quarter were C$44 million, compared with C$40 million.

It opened or acquired 13 new drug stores, seven of which were relocations. The company said it added one home health care store to its network, and two drug stores were closed.

President and Chief Executive Jurgen Schreiber, a former beauty and health retail executive in Europe, took over the CEO's job at Shoppers in March from Glenn Murphy.

Schreiber said Shoppers will not change the strategic direction of the company.

"I got, from Day 1, fantastic access into the company," he told analysts during a conference call.

"My picture on the company didn't really change much so we will not change at all the strategic direction of the company going forward. We will twist and tweak without any question."

The company's 1,000th store is a good indication of developments in the store format, he added.