By Michael Calia
Dollar General Corp. tightened its guidance for the year as the
discount retailer maintained its push to buy Family Dollar Stores
Inc. and said it would provide an update on its offer this
month.
The company, meanwhile, reported sales and earnings for the
October quarter that missed analysts' expectations.
Dollar General said it expects its earnings for the year to be
in the middle of the range it previously provided of $3.45 to
$3.55. The company also said it expected to post 8% sales growth,
the lower end of its previous 8% to 9% projection.
Dollar General has offered $9.1 billion to buy Family Dollar,
although Family Dollar rejected the approach as it had already
agreed to be acquired by Dollar Tree Inc. for $8.5 billion.
In November, Family Dollar delayed a shareholder vote on the
Dollar Tree deal, saying it expects an update on the Federal Trade
Commission's review of the merger this week. Dollar General has
also been in talks with the FTC about its proposal.
Dollar General said it would provide an update on its offer
before Family Dollar's shareholder meeting set for Dec. 23.
The company said sales at existing locations rose 2.8% as
traffic and average ticket grew in the most recent quarter.
"We continued to grow our market share in consumables, and we
are very pleased with the performance of our home and apparel
categories," Chief Executive Rick Dreiling said, adding the company
expects 5% same-store sales growth for the current quarter after a
"significant step up as we start the holiday season."
For the period ended Oct. 31, the company reported earnings of
$236.3 million, or 78 cents a share, down from $237.4 million, or
74 cents a share, in the prior-year period.
Sales rose 7.8% to $4.72 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had projected earnings of 83
cents a share and revenue of $4.77 billion.
The company also cautioned that its same-store sales growth
could come in at or slightly below its previous guidance 3% to
3.5%.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
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