Dollar General Posts Better-Than-Expected Q1 Earnings, But Sales Miss Views

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Dollar General Corp.
DG
reported better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter, but the company's sales misses analysts' expectations. The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company posted quarterly net income of $253.2 million, or $0.84 per share, compared to $222.4 million, or $0.72 per share, in the year-ago period. Its sales climbed 8.8 percent year-over-year to $4.92 billion from $4.52 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.81 per share on revenue of $4.94 billion. The average estimate among 13 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.82 per share and revenue of $4.94 billion. Its same-store sales increased 3.7 percent for the quarter. Gross profit, as a percentage of sales, rose 45 basis points year-over-year to 30.5 percent in the first quarter. Selling, general and administrative expense as a percentage of sales widened to 21.8 percent from 21.6 percent. In the first quarter, Dollar General repurchased 7.1 million shares of its common stock at a total cost of $534.7 million. As of May 1, 2015, merchandise inventories, at cost, totaled $2.84 billion, versus $2.61 billion as of May 2, 2014. Rick Dreiling, Dollar General's chairman and chief executive office said, "Dollar General is well-positioned to win with our customers as we continue to invest in growing our business. We are executing on our plan to deliver increased value to our shareholders by capitalizing on growth opportunities and returning capital to our shareholders through share repurchases and anticipated regular quarterly dividends." Dollar General expects FY15 earnings of $3.85 to $3.95 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $3.94 per share. It also projects sales to rise 8 percent to 9 percent year-over-year and same-store sales to surge 3 percent to 3.5 percent. Dollar General shares gained 2.94 percent to $74.90 in after-hours trading.
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Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceprofit
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