=Dollar General (DG) reported earnings on Thur 31 August 2017 (b/o)

Dollar General beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; same-store sales +2.6%; raises low end of FY18 EPS guidance in-line, reaffirms rev guidance in-line

• Reports Q2 (Jul) earnings of $1.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.09; revenues rose 8.1% year/year to $5.83 bln vs the $5.8 bln Capital IQ Consensus.
  • Same-Store Sales increased 2.6%.
• Co issues guidancefor FY18, sees EPS of $4.35-4.50 (prior: $4.25-$4.50) vs. $4.48 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; reaffirms FY18 revs of +5-7% to ~$23.083-23.53 bln vs. $23.36 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
  • Company continues to forecast fiscal 2017 same-store sales growth of slightly positive to an increase of two percent, the Company currently expects that results will be towards the upper end of such range.
  • Expected capital expenditures for fiscal 2017 remain between $715 million and $765 million.
  • Share repurchases for fiscal 2017 continue to be forecasted at approximately $450 million.
  • For fiscal 2017 the co plans to open ~1,285 new stores, which includes the originally forecasted approximate 1,000 locations plus the net Acquired Stores, in addition to remodeling or relocating 760 stores.
• "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," said Todd Vasos, Dollar General's chief executive officer.