Dollar General: FY16 EPS Growth To Be At Low End Of Long-Term Growth Model

(RTTNews) - Dollar General Corp. (DG) announced the company now forecasts EPS growth for fiscal 2016 to be at the low end of the long-term growth model range of 10 percent to 15 percent. The company expects the 53rd week to contribute approximately 200 basis points to its net sales performance and continues to estimate a $0.09 per share impact to EPS.

For fiscal 2017, the company plans to increase square footage growth by approximately 7.5 percent with the opening of approximately 1,000 new stores in addition to remodeling or relocating 900 stores.

The company reported net income of $235 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, in the 2016 third quarter, compared to net income of $253 million, or $0.86 per share, in the 2015 third quarter. Net sales increased 5.0 percent to $5.32 billion in the 2016 third quarter compared to $5.07 billion in the 2015 third quarter.

Third-quarter same-store sales decreased 0.1 percent from the 2015 third quarter primarily due to a decline in traffic partially offset by an increase in average transaction amount. The company said its same-store sales were driven by positive results in the consumables category offset by negative results in the seasonal, apparel and home products categories.