Dollar General Earnings Beat Street

Per-share earnings at Dollar General (DG Quote) increased 15% in its third quarter, besting Wall Street estimates, the discount retailer reported Thursday.

Nevertheless, Dollar General shares were down 17 cents, or 0.8%, to $20.03 about 20 minutes into the trading day.

The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based chain earned $77.9 million, or 23 cents a share, in its quarter ended Oct. 31. That compared to the same period a year ago when the company earned $68.57 million, or 20 cents a share.

Dollar General's revenue rose 12.5% in the quarter to $1.69 billion. Excluding a one-time gain related to a restatement, which added 4 cents a share to its bottom line in the year-ago period, the company's year-over-year per-share earnings increase would have been 43.8%.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting the deep discounter to earn 20 cents a share in its current quarter on revenue of $1.69 billion. The company previously forecast that its earnings, excluding restatement items, would increase 15% to 20% this year.

The company did not immediately update its earnings forecast.