Dollar General to Give Update on Family Dollar Bid Later in Month

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 [e-mail]

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