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GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. — Dollar General Corp. said Tuesday that its first quarter profit rose 14% to $253.2 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $222.4 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier.
Dollar General Corp. said Tuesday that its first quarter profit rose 14% to $253.2 million, or 84 cents a share, up from $222.4 million, or 72 cents a share, a year earlier.
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Sales increased 8.8% to $4.9 billion. Sales at stores open a year or longer rose 3.7% in the quarter, aided by sales of such items as apparel, snacks, perishable food and tobacco products.
The company also reiterated its full-year earnings guidance. Earlier, the company forecast that fiscal 2015 would be a year of strong growth, with a total sales increase of 8% to 9%, same-store sales growth of 3% to 3.5% and earnings per share growth of 10% to 13%.
"In the first quarter, we made solid progress implementing our key initiatives, with balanced growth across both consumables and non-consumable categories," said Rick Dreiling, Dollar General’s chairman and chief executive officer. "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."
Dreiling will be succeeded as CEO on June 3 by Todd Vasos, the company’s operations chief since 2013. Vasos, 53, joined the retailer in 2008 as merchandising chief.
Dreiling, 61, will remain as board chairman through January 29, 2016, and will serve as a senior adviser until that date.
Dollar General opened its 12,000th store on May 30, in Juliette, Ga. The company, which bills itself as the retailer with the most locations in America, has stores in 43 states after recently expanding its footprint into three new states – Maine, Rhode Island and Oregon. The retailer said it intends to open 730 stores this year.
