WOONSOCKET – CVS Caremark Corp. said Monday its earnings jumped 11 percent in the fourth quarter as customers took advantage of a new program that let them buy 90-day prescription supplies in CVS/pharmacy stores.

CVS posted a profit of $1.05 billion, or 74 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $949 million, or 65 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7 percent to $24.14 billion.

Excluding one-time charges, CVS said it earned a fourth-quarter profit of 79 cents a share, topping Wall Street estimates by a penny, according to the average estimate among 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales came in below the average projection of $26.2 billion.

Investors cheered the results. In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, CVS shares rose 5.5 percent to $32.79 at 10:23 a.m.

Matt Perry, an analyst at Wachovia, told Reuters the earnings report was “decent, especially in the face of a tough economy.”

CVS Caremark’s pharmacy-benefit management (PBM) division, which is being overhauled after losing $4.8 billion in contracts for this year, posted a 15 percent jump in revenue even as total claims processed decreased 5.6 percent.

CVS Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Ryan expressed optimism that the company would see a turnaround in the PBM unit next year. “We’re seeing a positive response heading into the 2011 PBM selling season,” he said on a call with investors, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Sales at CVS/pharmacy stores open for more than a year rose 5 percent compared with a year earlier, partly because of the 90-day prescription program, which previously was only available by mail.

Same-store retail pharmacy sales rose 7.3 percent from a year earlier in a sign the company is taking share from competitors, Jefferies & Co. analyst Scott Mushkin told Dow Jones. CVS rivals Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. both said their same-store pharmacy sales fell in January.

For the full year, CVS posted a profit of $3.7 billion, or $2.58 a share, up from a profit of $3.21 billion, or $2.23 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 13 percent to $98.73 billion.

Additional information is available at cvscaremark.com.