Family Dollar Stores Quarterly Profit Jumps 19%

Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (FDO) said profit in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 rose 19% from a year earlier. Net income was $104.4 million, or 77 cents per diluted share, for the quarter.

Sales for the quarter gained 8.4% to $1.997 billion, with comparable store sales rising 7%, the company said in a statement. The value of the average transaction at the company's stores was flat.

"We continue to deliver greater value for our customers," CEO Howard R Levine said. "Our revenue growth has accelerated nicely, and I am pleased to report our ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings per share growth."

The company expects that earnings per share will be between $2.53 and $2.58 for the full year.