99 Cents Only posts 4.1% 1Q sales increase

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif. 99 Cents Only posted net sales of $304.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, a 4.1% increase over $293 million in 2007. Same-store sales decreased 0.5% and, as anticipated, were negatively impacted by the Easter sales shift.

"In the comparison of our first quarter of fiscal 2009 versus our first quarter last year, we faced several major challenges including pressures from rising food and commodity prices, minimum wage increases and higher fuel costs," stated ceo Eric Schiffer. "These significant challenges offset the solid improvements we achieved in several important aspects of our business during the quarter."

Net loss for the quarter was $1.5 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, compared to net profit of $3 million, or 4 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008.

"Although our sales in the first quarter grew slightly more slowly than anticipated and the challenging macro-economic environment may have impacted our core customers’ discretionary spending, we are pleased that we increased our number of transactions, which suggests that traffic is solid and that we are growing our customer base," continued Schiffer. "Over the past couple of months, we have received a great deal of publicity in the local and national news concerning the exceptional value and quality we provide on basic household items, especially fresh food. We expect this positive publicity to help generate additional customer traffic during these tough economic times."