Dollar General pointed to higher customer traffic as driving a comparable store sales gain in the second quarter.
The company attributed a comparable store sales gain of 2.6% to increases in both average transaction amount and customer traffic. As for merchandising, consumables and seasonal categories had the best comp results, partially offset by negative results in the home products and apparel categories. Still, Dollar General asserted, non-consumables comps were positive overall.
Net sales increased 8.1% to $5.83 billion in the quarter year over year. Operating profit was $493.1 million versus $509.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.
The company’s net income was $294.8 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, for the second quarter, versus $306.5 million, or $1.08 per diluted share, in the 2016 period. Included in diluted earnings per share for the 2017 second quarter was a two-cent charge primarily for lease termination costs related to acquired stores. With that considered, Dollar General topped a MarketBeat-published analyst average estimate published by a penny.
Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s CEO said, “I am pleased with our results at this point in the year. For the quarter, same-store sales grew 2.6%, driven by an increase in our average transaction amount and, importantly, positive customer traffic. In a dynamic retail and consumer landscape, we continue to make targeted investments in our business to execute on our focused strategic and operating initiatives, which we believe will contribute to sustainable improvement over time.”
