Although Dollar General Corp. third-quarter comparable sales improved year over year, the retailer’s earnings slipped, missing a Wall Street forecast, as discretionary sales slowed.
Although Dollar General Corp. third-quarter comparable sales improved year over year, the retailer’s earnings slipped, missing a Wall Street forecast, as discretionary sales slowed.
Net income was $196.5 million, or 89 cents per diluted share, versus $276.2 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, in the year-before period, the company reported.
Dollar General fell short of a Zacks Investment Research earnings estimate of 96 cents per diluted share although revenues topped its $10.14 billion forecast.
Comparable sales increased 1.3% in the quarter year over year, Dollar General noted, based on a 1.1% increase in average transaction and a 0.3% increase in customer traffic. Strength in consumables was partially offset by declines in discretionary categories, including home, seasonal and apparel. Net sales advanced 5% to $10.18 billion versus $9.69 billion in the year-prior period driven by contributions from new stores and the comp growth, partially offset by store closure impacts.
Operating profit was $323.8 million versus $433.5 million in the year-earlier quarter.
Todd Vasos, Dollar General CEO, said weather also affected third-quarter results.
“We are pleased with our team’s execution in the third quarter, particularly in light of multiple hurricanes that impacted our business,” Vasos said. “While we continue to operate in an environment where our core customer is financially constrained, we delivered same-store sales near the top end of our expectations for the quarter. We believe our ‘Back to Basics’ efforts contributed to these results, as we have continued to improve our execution and the customer experience in our stores. Looking ahead, we are excited about our robust real estate plans for 2025. We believe our balance of new store growth and a significantly increased number of projects impacting our mature store base will further solidify Dollar General as an essential partner to communities in rural America, while strengthening our foundation to drive long-term sustainable growth and shareholder value.”
