Dollar General Corporation Reports First Quarter 2023 Results

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) today reported financial results for its fiscal 2023 first quarter (13 weeks) ended May 5, 2023.

• Net Sales Increased 6.8%
• Same-Store Sales Increased 1.6%
• Operating Profit Decreased 0.7% to $740.9 Million
• Diluted Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) Decreased 2.9% to $2.34
• Cash Flows From Operations of $191 Million
• Company Updates pOpshelf Real Estate Plans for Fiscal Year 2023
• Board of Directors Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.59 per share

“While the macroeconomic environment has been more challenging than expected, particularly for our core customer, we are confident in Dollar General’s ability to deliver strong growth in the years ahead, despite the near-term pressure which impacted our first quarter sales results and is anticipated to impact our full-year sales and EPS,” said Jeff Owen, Dollar General’s chief executive officer.

“We are controlling what we can control and have made significant progress improving our execution on multiple fronts, including on our supply chain recovery efforts and enhancements to the customer experience with our previously announced investment in incremental labor hours. In addition, we executed more than 800 real estate projects, including new store openings in our larger footprint Dollar General formats, which continue to outperform our expectations, and drive higher sales productivity compared to our traditional stores.”

“Looking ahead, we feel good about our position, and are taking action to better serve our core customer, which is our most important calling at Dollar General. Overall, we remain well positioned to serve all of our customers with our unique combination of value and convenience, while also creating long-term shareholder value.”

First Quarter 2023 Highlights

Net sales increased 6.8% to $9.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023 compared to $8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The net sales increase was primarily driven by positive sales contributions from new stores and growth in same-store sales, partially offset by the impact of store closures. Same-store sales increased 1.6% compared to the first quarter of 2022, driven by an increase in average transaction amount, partially offset by a decrease in customer traffic. Same-store sales in the first quarter of 2023 included growth in the consumables category, partially offset by declines in each of the seasonal, home, and apparel categories.

Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 31.6% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 31.3% in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 34 basis points. This gross profit rate increase was primarily attributable to higher inventory markups, decreased transportation costs, and a decreased LIFO provision; partially offset by increased shrink, markdowns, and inventory damages, as well as a greater proportion of sales coming from the consumables category, which generally has a lower gross profit rate than other product categories.

Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) as a percentage of net sales were 23.7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 22.8% in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 94 basis points. The primary expenses that were a greater percentage of net sales in the current year period were retail labor, repairs and maintenance, and depreciation and amortization; partially offset by a decrease in incentive compensation.

Operating profit for the first quarter of 2023 decreased 0.7% to $740.9 million compared to $746.2 million in the first quarter of 2022.

Interest expense for the first quarter of 2023 increased 109.3% to $83.0 million compared to $39.7 million in the first quarter of 2022, primarily driven by higher average borrowings and higher interest rates.

The effective income tax rate in both the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2022 was 21.8%. This effective income tax rate was flat due to offsetting changes driven by a lower state effective tax rate, and less benefit from stock-based compensation in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022.

The Company reported net income of $514.4 million for the first quarter of 2023, a decrease of 6.9% compared to $552.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. Diluted EPS decreased 2.9% to $2.34 for the first quarter of 2023 compared to diluted EPS of $2.41 in the first quarter of 2022.

Merchandise Inventories

As of May 5, 2023, total merchandise inventories, at cost, were $7.3 billion compared to $6.1 billion as of April 29, 2022, an increase of 14.7% on a per-store basis. This increase primarily reflects the impact of product cost inflation.

Capital Expenditures

Total additions to property and equipment in the first quarter of 2023 were $363 million, including approximately: $153 million for improvements, upgrades, remodels and relocations of existing stores; $101 million for distribution and transportation-related projects; $90 million related to store facilities, primarily for leasehold improvements, fixtures and equipment in new stores; and $8 million for information systems upgrades and technology-related projects. During the first quarter of 2023, the Company opened 212 new stores, remodeled 582 stores, and relocated 22 stores.

Share Repurchases

In the first quarter of 2023, as planned, the Company did not repurchase any shares under its share repurchase program. The total remaining authorization for future repurchases was $1.4 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Under the program, repurchases may be made from time to time in open market transactions, including pursuant to trading plans adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or in privately negotiated transactions. The timing, manner and number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors, including price, market conditions, compliance with the covenants and restrictions under the Company’s debt agreements, cash requirements, excess debt capacity, results of operations, financial condition and other factors. The authorization has no expiration date. Information regarding the Company’s updated share repurchase expectations for 2023 can be found under “Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Guidance and Store Growth Outlook.”

Dividend

On May 30, 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.59 per share on the Company’s common stock, payable on or before July 25, 2023 to shareholders of record on July 11, 2023. While the Board of Directors currently intends to continue regular cash dividends, the declaration and amount of future dividends are subject to the sole discretion of the Board and will depend upon, among other things, the Company’s results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, excess debt capacity, and other factors the Board may deem relevant in its sole discretion.

Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Guidance and Store Growth Outlook

The macroeconomic environment is more challenging than the Company had previously anticipated, which the Company believes is having a significant impact on customers’ spending levels and behaviors.

The Company remains confident in the business and its long-term growth prospects, but is revising its outlook for fiscal year 2023, provided on March 16, 2023, to reflect these more challenging macroeconomic headwinds, and now expects:

• Net sales growth in the range of approximately 3.5% to 5.0%, compared to its previous expectation of 5.5% to 6%; both of which include an anticipated negative impact of approximately two percentage points due to lapping the fiscal 2022 53^rd week
• Same-store sales growth in the range of approximately 1.0% to 2.0%, compared to its previous expectation of 3.0% to 3.5%
• Diluted EPS in the range of an approximate 8% decline to flat, compared to its previous expectation of growth of approximately 4% to 6%, both of which include an anticipated negative impact of approximately four percentage points due to lapping the fiscal 2022 53^rd week
  • The updated Diluted EPS guidance includes an anticipated negative impact of approximately four percentage points due to higher interest expense in fiscal 2023, compared to the anticipated negative impact of approximately three percentage points included in the prior EPS guidance.
• This Diluted EPS guidance assumes an effective tax rate of approximately 22.5%, compared to the previous assumption in the range of approximately 22.5% to 23.0%
• Capital expenditures, including those related to investments in the Company’s strategic initiatives, in the range of $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion, compared to its previous expectation of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion.

The Company’s guidance assumes no share repurchases in 2023, as compared to its previous expectation of share repurchases of approximately $500 million.

The Company is reducing the number of expected new store openings in the pOpshelf format in 2023. As a result, the Company now expects to execute 3,110 real estate projects in the United States, including 990 new store openings, 2,000 remodels, and 120 store relocations. This is compared to the previous expectation of 3,170 real estate projects in fiscal 2023, including 1,050 new store openings, 2,000 remodels, and 120 store relocations.

Conference Call Information

The Company will hold a conference call on June 1, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. CT/10:00 a.m. ET, hosted by Jeff Owen, chief executive officer, John Garratt, president, and Kelly Dilts, chief financial officer. To participate via telephone, please call (877) 407-0890 at least 10 minutes before the conference call is scheduled to begin. The conference ID is 13738243. There will also be a live webcast of the call available at https://investor.dollargeneral.com under “News & Events, Events & Presentations.” A replay of the conference call will be available through June 29, 2023, and will be accessible via webcast replay or by calling (877) 660-6853. The conference ID for the telephonic replay is 13738243.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements include those regarding the Company’s outlook, strategy, initiatives, plans and intentions including, but not limited to, statements made within the quotation of Mr. Owen, and in the sections entitled “Share Repurchases,” “Dividend,” and “Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Guidance and Store Growth Outlook.” A reader can identify forward-looking statements because they are not limited to historical fact or they use words such as “outlook,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “can,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “project,” “expect,” “estimate,” “target,” “forecast,” “predict,” “position,” “assume,” “opportunities,” “intend,” “continue,” “future,” “beyond,” “ongoing,” “potential,” “long-term,” “near-term,” “guidance,” “goal,” “outcome,” “uncertainty,” “look to,” “move ahead,” “looking ahead,” “years ahead,” “subject to,” “committed,” “confident,” “focus on,” or “likely to,” and similar expressions that concern the Company’s strategies, plans, initiatives, intentions or beliefs about future occurrences or results. These matters involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may change at any time and may cause actual results to differ materially from those which the Company expected. Many of these statements are derived from the Company’s operating budgets and forecasts as of the date of this release, which are based on many detailed assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable. However, it is very difficult to predict the effect of known factors on future results, and the Company cannot anticipate all factors that could affect future results that may be important to an investor. All forward-looking information should be evaluated in the context of these risks, uncertainties and other factors. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

• economic factors, including but not limited to employment levels; inflation (and the company’s ability to adjust prices sufficiently to offset the effect of inflation); pandemics (such as the COVID-19 pandemic); higher fuel, energy, healthcare and housing costs; higher interest rates, consumer debt levels, and tax rates; lack of available credit; tax law changes that negatively affect credits and refunds; decreases in, or elimination of, government stimulus programs or subsidies such as unemployment and food/nutrition assistance programs; commodity rates; transportation, lease and insurance costs; wage rates (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates); foreign exchange rate fluctuations; measures or events that create barriers to or increase the costs of international trade (including increased import duties or tariffs); impacts of failure of the U.S. government to raise the U.S. debt ceiling; and changes in laws and regulations and their effect on, as applicable, customer spending and disposable income, the company’s ability to execute its strategies and initiatives, the company’s cost of goods sold, the company’s SG&A expenses (including real estate costs), and the company’s sales and profitability;
• failure to achieve or sustain the company’s strategies, initiatives and investments, including those relating to merchandising (including non-consumable initiatives), real estate and new store development, international expansion, store formats and concepts, digital, marketing, health services, shrink, damages, sourcing, private brand, inventory management, supply chain, private fleet, store operations, expense reduction, technology, pOpshelf, Fast Track, and DG Media Network;
• competitive pressures and changes in the competitive environment and the geographic and product markets where the company operates, including, but not limited to, pricing, promotional activity, expanded availability of mobile, web-based and other digital technologies, and alliances or other business combinations;
• failure to timely and cost-effectively execute the company’s real estate projects or to anticipate or successfully address the challenges imposed by the company’s expansion, including into new countries or domestic markets, states, or urban or suburban areas;
• levels of inventory shrinkage and damages;
• failure to successfully manage inventory balances, issues related to supply chain disruptions, seasonal buying pattern disruptions, and distribution network capacity;
• failure to maintain the security of the company’s business, customer, employee or vendor information or to comply with privacy laws, or the company or one of its vendors falling victim to a cyberattack (which risk is heightened as a result of political uncertainty involving China and the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine) that prevents the company from operating all or a portion of its business;
• damage or interruption to the company’s information systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages or challenges in maintaining or updating the company’s existing technology or developing or implementing new technology;
• a significant disruption to the company’s distribution network, the capacity of the company’s distribution centers or the timely receipt of inventory, or delays in constructing, opening or staffing new distribution centers (including temperature-controlled distribution centers);
• risks and challenges associated with sourcing merchandise from suppliers, including, but not limited to, those related to international trade (for example, political uncertainty involving China and disruptive political events such as the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine);
• natural disasters, unusual weather conditions (whether or not caused by climate change), pandemic outbreaks or other health crises (for example, the COVID-19 pandemic), political or civil unrest, acts of war, violence or terrorism, and disruptive global political events (for example, political uncertainty involving China and the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine);
• product liability, product recall or other product safety or labeling claims;
• incurrence of material uninsured losses, excessive insurance costs or accident costs;
• failure to attract, develop and retain qualified employees while controlling labor costs (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary levels) and other labor issues, including employee safety issues and employee expectations and productivity;
• loss of key personnel or inability to hire additional qualified personnel or inability to enforce non-compete agreements that we have in place with management personnel;
• risks associated with the Company’s private brands, including, but not limited to, the company’s level of success in improving their gross profit rate at expected levels;
• seasonality of the company’s business;
• failure to protect the company’s reputation;
• the impact of changes in or noncompliance with governmental regulations and requirements, including, but not limited to, those dealing with the sale of products, including without limitation, product and food safety, marketing, labeling or pricing; information security and privacy; labor and employment; employee wages and benefits (including the heightened possibility of increased federal, state and/or local minimum wage rates/salary levels); health and safety; imports and customs; bribery; climate change; and environmental compliance, as well as tax laws (including those related to the federal, state or foreign corporate tax rate), the interpretation of existing tax laws, or the company’s failure to sustain its reporting positions negatively affecting the company’s tax rate, and developments in or outcomes of private actions, class actions, derivative actions, multi-district litigation, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation or of inquiries from federal, state and local agencies, regulatory authorities, attorneys general, committees, subcommittees and members of the U.S. Congress, and other local, state, federal and international governmental authorities;
• new accounting guidance or changes in the interpretation or application of existing guidance;
• deterioration in market conditions, including market disruptions, adverse conditions in the financial markets including financial institution failures, limited liquidity and interest rate increases, changes in the company’s credit profile, compliance with covenants and restrictions under the company’s debt agreements, and the amount of the company’s available excess capital;
• the factors disclosed under “Risk Factors” in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q; and
• such other factors as may be discussed or identified in this press release.

All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by these and other cautionary statements that the Company makes from time to time in its SEC filings and public communications. The Company cannot assure the reader that it will realize the results or developments the Company anticipates or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the consequences or affect the Company or its operations in the way the Company expects. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements included herein or that may be made elsewhere from time to time by, or on behalf of, the Company.

Investors should also be aware that while the Company does, from time to time, communicate with securities analysts and others, it is against the Company’s policy to disclose to them any material, nonpublic information or other confidential commercial information. Accordingly, shareholders should not assume that the Company agrees with any statement or report issued by any securities analyst regardless of the content of the statement or report. Furthermore, the Company has a policy against confirming projections, forecasts or opinions issued by others. Thus, to the extent that reports issued by securities analysts contain any projections, forecasts or opinions, such reports are not the Company’s responsibility.

About Dollar General Corporation

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) is proud to serve as America’s neighborhood general store. Founded in 1939, Dollar General lives its mission of Serving Others every day by providing access to affordable products and services for its customers, career opportunities for its employees, and literacy and education support for its hometown communities. As of May 5, 2023, the company’s 19,294 Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and pOpshelf stores across the United States and Mi Súper Dollar General stores in Mexico provide everyday essentials including food, health and wellness products, cleaning and laundry supplies, self-care and beauty items, and seasonal décor from our high-quality private brands alongside many of the world’s most trusted brands such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, General Mills, Hershey, J.M. Smucker, Kraft, Mars, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

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