Dollar General Corp. said its profit fell for the fiscal second quarter as it saw a decline in customer traffic and absorbed the effects of store closures, partially offset by sales contributions from new stores.
The discount retailer on Thursday posted net income of $637 million for the three months ended July 30, compared with $787.6 million in the prior year. Earnings were $2.69 a share, compared with $3.12 a share in the same period last year. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $2.62 a share.
Net sales fell to $8.65 billion from $8.68 billion. Analysts were looking for $8.61 billion.
Same-store sales slipped 4.7%, partially offset by an increase in average transaction amount. The company said same-store sales for the quarter included a decline in each of the consumables, seasonal, apparel, and home-products categories.