GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dollar General Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 32 percent on a 20 percent revenue increase as more customers showed up in the discounter's stores and spent more. The latest results also benefited from an extra week in the period.
The retailer gave a fiscal 2012 revenue forecast above Wall Street's expectations.
Its stock rose 97 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $45.72 in premarket trading on Thursday.
Dollar General reported net income of $292.5 million, or 85 cents per share, in the quarter ended Feb. 3. That compares with earnings of $222.5 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding equity-based compensation and other items, earnings were 87 cents per share. That beat the 82 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet expected.
Revenue climbed 20 percent to $4.19 billion from $3.49 billion. Some of the strongest sales were in categories including home products and consumables, which are disposable items like shampoo and paper.
The revenue results topped Wall Street's estimate of $4.1 billion.
Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 6.5 percent on increased traffic and a higher average transaction amount. Dollar General said some of the increase in the average transaction amount was due to inflation.
This metric is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
For the year, Dollar General said it net income rose to $766.7 million, or $2.22 per share, from $627.9 million, or $1.82 per share, in the previous year. Annual revenue increased 14 percent to $14.81 billion from $13.04 billion.
Revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 6 percent for the year.
The company expects fiscal 2012 adjusted earnings of about $2.65 to $2.75 per share with revenue up 8 percent to 9 percent over the 53-week 2011 fiscal year, which would imply $16 billion to $16.15 billion. Revenue at stores open at least a year is expected to increase 3 percent to 5 percent.
Analysts predict full-year earnings of $2.71 per share on revenue of $15.92 billion.
Dollar General, which is based in Goodlettsville, Tenn., had 9,937 stores in 38 states as of Feb. 3.
