Walgreen Co. Monday morning reported a 7.2% increase in its December sales. Comparable-store sales for the month rose 6.1%.

Total sales at the 8,200-store chain hit $7.2 billion for the month, up from $6.72 billion last ­December.

The company said its front-end sales increased 4% over December 2012 totals, while comparable-store front-end sales increased 2.5%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 1.3%, while basket size increased 3.8%.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreen Co. Monday morning reported a 7.2% increase in its December sales. Comparable-store sales for the month rose 6.1%.

Total sales at the 8,200-store chain hit $7.2 billion for the month, up from $6.72 billion last ­December.

The company said its front-end sales increased 4% over December 2012 totals, while comparable-store front-end sales increased 2.5%. Customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 1.3%, while basket size increased 3.8%.

Walgreens said that prescription volume for the month also increased, with the number of prescriptions filled at comparable stores moving ahead by 5.3% in December.

The additional prescriptions helped drive pharmacy sales for the month, with overall pharmacy sales increasing 10.2% and comparable-store pharmacy sales rising by 9%.
Pharmacy sales accounted for 58.3% of total sales for the month.

Overall Walgreens said its sales for calendar 2013 were $73.72 billion, an increase of 4.5% from $70.52 billion in 2012.

Fiscal 2014 year-to-date sales for the first four months were $25.54 billion, up 6.3% from $24.03 billion in the comparable period in fiscal 2013.

Walgreens opened five stores during December, including one relocation, acquired three stores and closed six.