MATTHEWS, N.C.–Third-quarter net income for Family Dollar totaled $87.7 million, up 35.5 percent from the third fiscal quarter of 2008 and a new record.
The retailer’s net sales for the 2009 third fiscal quarter rose 8.3 percent to $1.843 billion. Part of this gain was a 3.4 percent pickup in sales of home products, and a 6.2 percent increase in same-store sales. Both selling, general and administrative expenses and cost of sales rose on a dollar basis, but SG&A remained flat as a percentage of sales and cost of sales fell as a percentage of sales.
In a company statement, Howard R. Levine, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “Customers are shopping us more frequently and relying on us to meet more of their basic needs. As a result, we continue to gain market share.”
Looking ahead, Levine said fourth-quarter sales trends remain strong, but that the sales increase for the quarter would be affected by the cycling of last year’s stimulus checks from the U.S. government.