In preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year, Dollar General Corp. announced it expects to report results below the expectations provided on its conference call on December 1, when the company released its third-quarter results.
Despite continued market share gains in sales of consumable and non-consumable products, the company maintained, comparable sales for the fourth quarter increased by 5.7%, compared to the company’s previous expectation of approximately 6%-7%. In addition, Dollar General anticipates that diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter will fall in the range of $2.91-$2.96 versus its previous expectation of $3.15-$3.30.
For the fiscal year, comps increased 4.3%, compared to the company’s previous expectation of being toward the upper end of a 4%-4.5% range, and the company expects diluted earnings per share growth from 4.5%-5.%, compared to its previous expectation of 7%-8%.
The company attributed the lower-than-expected results primarily to lower-than-anticipated sales and higher-than-anticipated inventory damage. In both cases, Dollar General stated, the negative impact from Winter Storm Elliott during the fourth quarter played a role. Although November and January comps were within the company’s expected fourth-quarter guidance range at 6.7% and 6.5%, respectively, December’s comps were lower than the company anticipated at 4.5%, which the company believes to be primarily as a result of the storm, it noted.
