Dollar General Q3 Profit Beats Views

reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter on Thursday. The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company posted quarterly net income of $253.3 million, or $0.86 per share, versus $236.3 million, or $0.78 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.88 per share. Its sales climbed 7.3 percent to $5.07 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.77 per share on revenue of $5.09 billion. The average estimate among 33 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.87 per share and revenue of $5.08 billion. Its same-store sales increased 2.3 percent. Gross profit, as a percentage of net sales, climbed 19 basis points to 30.3 percent in the third quarter. As of October 30, 2015, Dollar General's total merchandise inventories, at cost, were $3.10 billion, versus $2.79 billion as of October 31, 2014. During the 2015 third quarter, Dollar General repurchased 3.8 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $73.01 per share. Dollar General named John Garratt as Chief Financial Officer. Todd Vasos, Dollar General's chief executive officer said, "As we plan for 2016, we are adopting a zero-based budgeting process to reinforce our commitment as a low cost operator to better serve our consumers with the everyday low prices they know and trust at Dollar General. Looking forward, we have continued confidence that we are well-positioned for sustainable growth and creation of shareholder value. As evidenced by today's announcement of the increased share repurchase authorization, we remain committed to our balanced approach to capital allocation for our shareholders." For the fourth quarter, the company now projects earnings of $1.23 to $1.28 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $1.27 per share. For the 2015 fiscal year, it expects sales to rise around 8 percent and same-store sales growth of 2.5 percent to 2.8 percent. It also projects adjusted earnings of $3.88 to $3.93 per share. Dollar General shares fell 0.56 percent to close at $65.35 yesterday.