Dollar General profit up; will open 600 stores in 2010

Goodlettsville, Tenn. Dollar General Corp. said Thursday it returned to a profit in its third quarter on increased sales as the prior-year period was weighed down by a lawsuit settlement. The prior year's results included a $37.4 million lawsuit settlement and related costs.

The discount store chain earned $75.6 million, compared with a loss of $7.3 million during the same period a year ago. The performance narrowly missed the profit analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected.

Sales for the three months ended Oct. 30 improved to $2.93 billion from $2.6 billion, surpassing Wall Street's $2.88 billion estimate. Same-store sales rose 9.2% on better traffic and an increase in the average transaction amount.

“This was another great quarter in what has so far been another very strong year for Dollar General,” said Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO.

Dollar General said it plans to open about 600 new stores next year and remodel or relocate approximately 500 stores. The retailer operates more than 8,700 stores in 35 states.