Dollar General Profit Beats Estimates, But Sales Fall Short

Dollar General Corp. said Thursday it had net income of $253 million, or 86 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter, compared with $236 million, or 78 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 88 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 87 cents. Sales rose 7.3% to $5.07 billion, but were below the FactSet consensus of $5.09 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.3%, buoyed by higher customer traffic and transaction value. The FactSet consensus was for same-store sales to rise 2.6%. The company is now expecting fourth-quarter EPS of $1.23 to $1.28, compared with a FactSet consensus of $1.27. Sales are expected to grow about 8% for all of fiscal 2015 and same-store sales are expected to grow 2.5% to 2.8%. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 8% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.