Dollar General Tops Forecast, Raises Outlook

by Christopher Freeburn | September 5, 2012 9:42 am

Dollar General (NYSE:DG[1]) announced on Wednesday that it earned $214.1 million during the second quarter[2], up from $146 million in the same period last year.

The discount chain recorded $3.95 billion in quarterly revenue, up 10.4% from 2011. Adjusted EPS for the second quarter was 69 cents, beating analysts, who were looking for earnings of 64 cents a share, Forbes noted.

The company raised its profit forecast for the year from previously-issued guidance of between $2.68 and $2.78 a share, to between $2.77 and $2.85 a share.

Wall Street expects Dollar General to earn about $2.81 a share for the year.

Shares of Dollar General rose more than 1% in Wednesday morning trading.

Company officials noted that same-store sales rose 5.1% compared to last year. The chain anticipates same-store sales to increase between 4% and 5% during the full year, while total sales are forecast to rise between 8% and 9%.

Dollar General’s board also authorized a new $500 million share buyback. The chain still has $15 million remaining under a previous $500 million share repurchase program.

Last month, rival discount chain Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR[3]) posted second-quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ estimates[4] and lowered its outlook for the third quarter.

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