Dollar General ‘pleased’ with Q1 results

Dollar General Corp. enjoyed a net sales increase of 6.5% during the first quarter ending May 5, bringing its total to $5.61 billion. It scored $5.27 billion during the same quarter last year.

Comp sales also rose by 0.7%.

"For the first quarter of 2017, I am pleased with our earnings results which reflect solid management of the business in a difficult retail environment as we overcame our most challenging comparisons from the prior year,” CEO Todd Vasos said in a prepared statement.

“Our same-store sales improved as we moved past the delay in income tax refunds and the timing shift of the later Easter holiday. We continue to execute on our focused strategy and implement our operating initiatives which we believe will improve customer traffic and transactions.”

Average transaction amounts rose, which allowed the company to withstand a slide in traffic.

Gross profit clocked in at 30.3%, slightly down from last year’s 30.6% mark.

The company attributes this dip to “higher markdowns, primarily for inventory clearance and promotional activities, a greater proportion of sales of consumables, which tend to have a lower gross profit rate as compared to non-consumables, and the mix within consumables.”

Higher initial inventory markups helped make up for those shortcomings. 

During the quarter, the Federal Trade Commission approved a proposed purchase of 322 stores across 36 states that had been Family Dollar stores, which were spun off during the company’s merger with Dollar Tree.

If successful, the transaction should close during the second quarter and see the new locations converted to Dollar General stores by the fall of 2017.

Dollar General Corp. currently has 13,601 stores across 44 states.

Contact Dan Orlando at [email protected]
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