Howard Levine

Family Dollar Trades Lower on Disappointing 1Q Sales

Family Dollar (NYSE:FDO) reported a stronger first-quarter profit on a surge for consumables during the holidays, however its shares shed about 6% on Friday as sales missed expectations and the company warned the “extremely promotional” retail environment will continue.

 Sales for the first quarter ended Nov. 26 were up 7.6% to $2.15 billion from $1.997 billion a year ago. Net income increased 8.1% to $80.4 million, or 68 cents, compared with $74.3 million, or 58 cents, in the year-earlier period.Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on average were expecting revenue of $2.17 billion on a per-share profit of 68 cents.Despite the mediocre performance, December comparable store sales were up about 4% due to higher traffic and customer transaction value, and management reaffirmed its earnings guidance for fiscal 2012, expecting earnings between $3.50 and $3.75 a share. Wall Street is looking for a fiscal profit of $3.65.Sales were strong at the start of the holiday season and picked up in th...

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