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CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree on Wednesday reported financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 1. The discount retailer said consolidated net sales increased 1.8% to $6.3 billion in the fourth quarter. On a full-year basis, sales increased 3.5% to $23.61 billion.
Comparable-store sales increased 0.4% in the fourth quarter, as the retailer struggled to attract shoppers to its Family Dollar stores. Comps were up 1.4% at Dollar Tree-branded stores and declined 0.8% at Family Dollar stores.
For fiscal 2019, same-store sales at the Dollar Tree segment increased 2.3% and 1.4% at Family Dollar outlets.
Dollar Tree forecast consolidated net sales for the first quarter of 2020 in the range of 5.89 billion to $5.99 billion, based on a low single-digit increase in same-store sales for the enterprise.
“I am proud of the team’s accomplishments in 2019, including the successful consolidation of our store support centers, the material acceleration in the Family Dollar store optimization program where we continue to see strong performance at renovated stores, and the initial launch of our Dollar Tree Plus! Initiative. For the fourth quarter, despite the compressed holiday shopping season, we delivered positive comps for the enterprise, while managing margins and costs effectively to achieve adjusted earnings per share near the top of our guidance range,” stated CEO Gary Philbin. “Our support functions are now working together in one location under one leadership team; which we expect will build greater collaboration, efficiencies and teamwork to enable us to support Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores more effectively. Fiscal 2019 was a very important year for our organization to further develop the foundation to grow and improve our business.”
Philbin said the company plans to renovate approximately 1,250 Family Dollar H2 stores in 2020 and expand its Dollar Tree Plus! 2.0 initiative as management focuses on driving sales, improving gross margins and managing costs effectively. H2 is a recently developed format for both new and renovated Family Dollar stores featuring new merchandise offerings, including an assortment of $1 merchandise like that offered in Dollar Tree outlets. Dollar Tree Plus! is an initiative featuring products across many categories that are priced above $1. Management introduced the program as an alternative to its ‘Everything’s a Dollar’ model that could help drive long-term value creation.