Dollar General sales surge on coronavirus-driven demand

(Reuters) – Dollar General Corp reported its biggest rise in quarterly sales in at least 14 years on Thursday, benefiting from a surge in demand from customers stocking up on groceries and household essentials amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company’s net sales rose 27.6% to $8.45 billion in the first quarter ended May 1, beating analysts’ estimates of $7.61 billion. It was the company’s biggest jump in sales since at least February 2006, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Dollar General’s same-store sales jumped 21.7%.

Separately, Dollar Tree Inc , which uses a larger portion of its shelf space for discretionary items like holiday cards and party supplies that may not have sold as well in the crisis, also reported a 7% rise in same-store sales for the quarter.

Dollar General also reported a 69% rise in quarterly net earnings and said it expects to exceed its annual sales and profit forecasts.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)