Dollar General Q1 Profit Tops Estimates; Confirms Full Year Guidance

(RTTNews) - Dollar General Corp. (DG) reported net income of $253 million, or $0.84 per share in the 2015 first quarter, compared to $222 million, or $0.72 per share, prior year.

On average, 25 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.81 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Net sales increased 8.8 percent to $4.92 billion compared to $4.52 billion, prior year. Same-store sales increased 3.7 percent resulting from increases in both customer traffic and average transaction amount. Analysts expected revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter.

For the 2015 fiscal year, the company expects total sales to increase 8 to 9 percent over the 2014 fiscal year, with same-store sales expected to increase 3 to 3.5 percent. EPS is expected to be approximately $3.85 to $3.95. Analysts expect the company to report fiscal 2015 earnings per share of $3.94.

To date, Dollar General is on track with its pipeline development to accelerate new store openings to 7 percent square footage growth in 2016.