MEMO: D&K SALES INCREASE

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. of St. Louis announced net sales of $102 million during the second quarter of its 1996 fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, up 42 percent from the same period a year ago. The company reported a net loss of $143,000, or 5 cents a share on a primary basis in the quarter, compared to net income of $143,000 or 13 cents a share during the same quarter a year ago.

For the six months ending Sept. 30, net sales increased 60 percent, to $213,446,000. The company reported a net loss of $109,000, or 4 cents a share on the primary shares, compared to net income of $571,000, or 24 cents a share during the same six-month period a year ago.

J. Hord Armstrong III, chairman and chief executive officer, said that while results of the second quarter and first six months compared unfavorable to fiscal 1995, the "performance was in line with our expectations." During the first six months of fiscal 1996, D&K operated four distribution centers versus two the year before, resulting in increased operating expenses, due to acquisition of Northern Drug and Twin City Wholesale Drug. These two centers have now been consolidated into one facility at Minneapolis.

D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. is a full-service, regional wholesale distributor, supplying customers from facilities in Cairo, Ill., Lexington, Ky., and Minneapolis. The company will move its Cairo operation to Cape Girardeau in 1996.