Exhibit 99
Dollar General Announces Fourth Quarter
and Fiscal Year Results and 2005 Outlook
GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 2005--Dollar
General Corporation (NYSE:DG) today reported unaudited financial
results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 28, 2005.
Net income for the 2004 fourth quarter increased 31 percent to $133.9
million, or $.41 per share on a diluted basis. Full year 2004 net
income increased 15 percent to $344.2 million, or $1.04 per share on a
diluted basis compared to $.89 per share in 2003. The 2003 reported
amounts include a $10 million, or $.03 per diluted share, non-tax
deductible civil penalty to be paid to The Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "penalty"). Excluding the impact of the penalty, net
income for the 2004 fourth quarter and fiscal year increased by 19
percent and 11 percent, respectively, and diluted earnings per share
for the 2004 fourth quarter and fiscal year increased by 24 percent
and 13 percent, respectively. Operating margin in this year's fourth
quarter was 10.0 percent versus last year's fourth quarter operating
margin of 8.9 percent (9.4 percent, excluding the penalty).
"I am very pleased with our accomplishments in 2004, particularly
in the fourth quarter," said David Perdue, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer." We achieved our financial targets even though our
core customers faced significant economic challenges. We were able to
serve their needs while growing our store base and moving forward on
our longer term operating initiatives, such as EZstore."
As previously reported, net sales for the fourth quarter totaled
$2.20 billion in fiscal 2004, an increase of 11.7 percent over fiscal
2003 fourth quarter sales of $1.97 billion. The increase resulted
primarily from net new stores and a same-store sales increase of 3.0
percent.
Gross profit during the quarter was $660.0 million, or 30.0
percent of sales, versus $576.5 million, or 29.3 percent of sales, in
the prior year. Significant factors contributing to the increase in
gross profit as a percentage of sales were increases in markups on
beginning inventory and inventory purchases received during the
quarter as well as fewer promotional markdowns taken after the holiday
season this year as compared to last year. These improvements were
partially offset by higher transportation expenses, impacted by higher
fuel costs.
Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses for the
quarter were $439.6 million, or 20.0 percent of sales, in the current
year, versus $392.2 million, or 19.9 percent of sales, in the prior
year. Increased rental expense on the Company's leased properties,
fees associated with the acceptance of debit cards, and increases in
the costs of workers' compensation and other insurance programs were
partially offset by store labor leverage, resulting from improved
store-level efficiencies, and lower administrative bonus expense.
For the 2004 fiscal year, net sales totaled $7.66 billion, an
increase of 11.5 percent over fiscal 2003 sales of $6.87 billion. The
increase resulted primarily from net new stores and a same-store sales
increase of 3.2 percent.
Gross profit for 2004 was $2.26 billion, or 29.5 percent of net
sales, compared with $2.02 billion, or 29.4 percent of net sales in
2003. Although gross profit as a percentage of sales has been
pressured during the year by a higher percent of consumable items in
our sales mix and by higher fuel costs, the Company was able to more
than offset these pressures primarily by achieving higher markups on
its inventory.
SG&A expenses for fiscal 2004 were $1.71 billion, or 22.3 percent
of sales, compared with $1.50 billion, or 21.8 percent of sales, in
2003. The increase in SG&A, as a percentage of sales, is due to a
number of factors, including increases in store occupancy costs,
primarily due to increased rental expense on the Company's leased
store locations, fees associated with increased usage of debit cards,
consulting expenses relating to the Company's store operations project
("EZstore") and its Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, and increased
costs associated with store physical inventory counts.
Interest expense in 2004 was $28.8 million compared to $35.6
million in 2003. This decrease is due in large part to capitalizing
interest on the Company's distribution center construction and
expansion projects during the year as well as lower debt issuance cost
amortization, resulting from a mid-year 2004 amendment to the
Company's revolving credit facility.
For the 2004 fiscal year, the Company's income tax rate was 35.6
percent compared to 37.3 percent in fiscal 2003. This tax rate
decrease is primarily the result of adjustments to certain contingent
state income tax liabilities, net of the federal tax effect, recorded
in the second quarter of 2004. The tax rate in 2003 was unfavorably
impacted by the non-deductible penalty described earlier.
Total merchandise inventories at the end of the 2004 fiscal year
were $1.38 billion compared to $1.16 billion at the end of fiscal
2003, a 19 percent increase, or a 9 percent increase on a per store
basis. The largest portion of the increase in inventories resulted
from the Company's focus on improving in-stock levels of core
merchandise at the stores. New initiatives, including the expansion of
the perishable food program and the addition of certain core apparel
items, magazines and Hispanic food items also contributed to the
inventory increase. In addition, due to an early Easter in 2005, the
Company received more seasonal merchandise for Spring 2005 before the
end of fiscal 2004. In 2005, the Company plans to focus on lowering
its per store inventory levels.
Cash capital expenditures for 2004 totaled $282.1 million compared
with $139.2 million for 2003. During the year, the Company opened 722
new stores, including 13 Dollar General Markets. The Company also
added additional apparel fixtures to most stores and installed
refrigerated coolers to an additional 3,670 existing stores. As of
January 28, 2005, the Company operated 7,320 stores, including 15
Dollar General Markets. Ninety-four percent of all Dollar General
stores were equipped with coolers, and 86 percent of all stores were
accepting food stamps, or EBT, as of January 28, 2005.
In addition, fiscal 2004 capital expenditures included investments
in the Company's transportation and distribution networks, including
the completion of the expansion of its South Boston, VA distribution
center, the substantial completion of the expansion of its Ardmore, OK
distribution center and the substantial completion of the construction
of its new distribution center in South Carolina.
During the year, the Company repurchased approximately 11.0
million shares of its common stock for $209.3 million, including the
remaining 10.5 million shares authorized under its 12 million share
repurchase authorization that expired on March 15, 2005, and 0.5
million shares purchased under its current 10 million share
authorization that expires November 30, 2005.
Comments Regarding Restatement for Lease Accounting Adjustments
The financial statements for 2004 and the restated financial
statements for 2003 referred to in this release have been prepared
using the accounting practices for leases described in the Company's
press release dated March 3, 2005. The impact of the change in
accounting was not significant in either year.
2005 Outlook
The Company expects diluted earnings per share ("EPS") of between
$1.14 and $1.19 for fiscal 2005, including a charge of approximately
$0.01 per share in the second half of the year relating to the
expensing of stock options as required by Statement of Financial
Accounting Standards No. 123R, "Share-Based Payment." The Company
expects EPS of $0.21-$0.22 for its first quarter ending April 29,
2005. The Company anticipates that its gross margin computation will
be impacted during the year by the conversion of its retail inventory
accounting systems from 10 inventory departments to 23 departments.
While this conversion is not expected to have a material impact on
gross margin for the year, it is expected to negatively impact
quarters with higher percentages of highly consumables sales and,
conversely, it is expected to positively impact the fourth quarter
which typically has higher seasonal merchandise sales. In 2005, Dollar
General plans to spend approximately $350 million on capital
expenditures.
Commenting on the outlook for 2005, Perdue said, "We have provided
an EPS outlook for 2005 that is consistent with our internal plan, but
as I did last year, I would like to add a cautionary note. Our core
customers are still faced with high unemployment rates, and gasoline
and fuel costs continue to be an issue for our customers as well as a
significant cost item for the Company. We are also managing quite a
bit of change in our stores and distribution centers with the
implementation of EZstore. Although I am confident that our operating
initiatives will bring positive near-term and long-term benefits,
change is always accompanied by the risk of near-term disruption."
The following are highlights of the Company's more significant
operating initiatives for 2005:
-- Implement EZstore in approximately half of our stores by the
end of the year, including the purchase of necessary
equipment, changes to certain distribution center processes
and the conversion of trailers to support EZstore. Capital
expenditures relating to this initiative in 2005 are expected
to be approximately $53 million, which is the primary reason
for an increase in capital expenditures over fiscal 2004;
-- Open approximately 730 new stores, including at least 30
Dollar General Market stores, continuing the Company's western
expansion and expanding the Market concept to new geographic
areas;
-- Complete construction of the Jonesville, South Carolina
distribution center, scheduled to open in June 2005;
-- Identify the location for and begin construction of our ninth
distribution center;
-- Improve inventory management, including maintaining high store
in-stock levels, better managing of safety stocks at the
distribution centers, executing our seasonal merchandise
sell-through strategy, and reducing inventory on a per store
basis;
-- Continue to focus on sales and profit growth including
expansion of Dollar General Markets, additional "treasure
hunt" merchandise and improved productivity in our larger
format stores;
-- Continue to focus on the reduction of inventory shrink; and
-- Continue to decrease store manager turnover through better
human resource management, including improved hiring, training
and succession planning.
Conference Call
The Company will host a conference call on Thursday, March 17,
2005, at 10 a.m. EST to discuss the year's results and the outlook for
2005. The security code for the conference call is "Dollar General."
If you wish to participate, please call (334) 260-2280 at least 10
minutes before the conference call is scheduled to begin. The call
will also be broadcast live online at www.dollargeneral.com and can be
accessed by clicking on the homepage "Spotlight Item."A replay of the
conference call will be available until 5 p.m. EST on Thursday, March
31, online or by calling (334) 323-7226. The replay pass code is
13584540.
Non-GAAP Disclosures
This release, or the tables accompanying this release, includes
certain financial information not derived in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), including 2003 net income,
diluted earnings per share, operating profit margin, return on
invested capital and return on assets, each of which excludes a
non-deductible civil penalty relating to the Company's restatement of
its financial statements for the years 1998 through 2000. The Company
believes that this information is useful to investors as it indicates
more clearly the Company's comparative year-to-year operating results.
Management may also use this information to better understand the
Company's underlying operating results. In addition, the return on
invested capital, included in this release, may be considered a
non-GAAP financial measure. Management believes that return on
invested capital is useful because it provides investors with
additional useful information for evaluating the efficiency of the
Company's capital deployed in its operations. None of this information
should be considered a substitute for any measures derived in
accordance with GAAP. The Company has included its calculation of
return on invested capital and reconciliations of these non-GAAP
financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures in
the accompanying schedules.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information, such as
the information in the section entitled "2005 Outlook." The words
"believe," "anticipate," "project," "plan," "schedule," "expect,"
"estimate," "objective," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "will likely
result," or "will continue" and similar expressions generally identify
forward-looking statements. These matters involve risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause the actual performance of the Company
to differ materially from that expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking information should be
evaluated in the context of these risks, uncertainties and other
factors. The Company believes the assumptions underlying these
forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, any of the
assumptions could be inaccurate and, therefore, actual results may
differ materially from those projected by, or implied in, the
forward-looking statements. Factors that may result in actual results
differing from such forward-looking information include, but are not
limited to:
-- transportation and distribution delays or interruptions both
domestically and internationally;
-- labor shortages in the trucking industry;
-- the Company's ability to negotiate effectively the cost and
purchase of merchandise;
-- prolonged or repeated price increases of certain raw materials
that could affect vendors' product costs;
-- inventory risks due to shifts in market demand;
-- changes in product mix;
-- interruptions in suppliers' businesses;
-- the inability to execute operating initiatives;
-- costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with
implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology or
with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems;
-- fuel price and interest rate fluctuations;
-- a continued rise in health insurance costs or workers'
compensation costs;
-- a deterioration in general economic conditions whether caused
by acts of war, terrorism or other factors;
-- changes in demand due to unexpected or unusual weather
patterns;
-- seasonality of the Company's business such as a sales
shortfall during the Christmas selling season;
-- unanticipated changes in the federal or state minimum wage or
living wage requirements;
-- changes in federal or state regulations governing the sale of
the Company's products, particularly "over-the-counter"
medications or health products;
-- excessive costs and delays associated with building, opening
and operating new stores;
-- excessive costs and delays associated with building, opening,
expanding or converting new or existing distribution centers;
-- the reputational and financial impact of the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") inquiry related to the restatement
of certain of the Company's financial statements;
-- results of other legal proceedings and claims; and
-- other risk factors described in the Company's Form 10-K
for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2004, filed with the SEC
on March 16, 2004, the Company's most recent Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q, and elsewhere in this press release.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
release. Except as may be required by law, the Company disclaims any
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after
the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events. Readers are advised, however, to consult any further
disclosures the Company may make on related subjects in its public
disclosures or documents filed with the SEC.
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Dollars in thousands)
January 28, January 30,
Subject to reclassification 2005 2004
- --------------------------- ----------- -----------
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
ASSETS (Restated)
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 232,830 $ 345,899
Short-term investments 42,925 68,726
Merchandise inventories 1,376,537 1,157,141
Deferred income taxes 24,908 30,413
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 53,702 50,036
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total current assets 1,730,902 1,652,215
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Property and equipment, at cost 1,940,335 1,709,722
Less: accumulated depreciation and
amortization 858,538 751,131
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net property and equipment 1,081,797 958,591
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Other assets, net 29,264 11,270
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total assets $2,841,963 $2,622,076
======================================================================
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term obligations $ 12,860 $ 16,670
Accounts payable 409,327 383,791
Accrued expenses and other 333,889 303,156
Income taxes payable 69,616 45,725
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total current liabilities 825,692 749,342
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Long-term obligations 258,462 265,337
Deferred income taxes 72,750 52,504
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred stock - -
Common stock 164,086 168,095
Additional paid-in capital 421,600 376,930
Retained earnings 1,103,051 1,015,382
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (973) (1,161)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
1,687,764 1,559,246
Other shareholders' equity (2,705) (4,353)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total shareholders' equity 1,685,059 1,554,893
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $2,841,963 $2,622,076
======================================================================
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Income
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
Subject to reclassification
- ---------------------------
For the Years Ended
------------------------------------
% of % of
January 28, Net January 30, Net
2005 Sales 2004 Sales
----------------- ------------------
(Restated)
Net sales $7,660,927 100.00% $6,871,992 100.00%
Cost of goods sold 5,397,735 70.46 4,853,863 70.63
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross profit 2,263,192 29.54 2,018,129 29.37
Selling, general and
administrative 1,706,216 22.27 1,497,665 21.79
Penalty - - 10,000 0.15
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating profit 556,976 7.27 510,464 7.43
Interest income (6,575) (0.09) (4,103) (0.06)
Interest expense 28,794 0.38 35,606 0.52
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Income before taxes on income 534,757 6.98 478,961 6.97
Provision for taxes on income 190,567 2.49 178,465 2.60
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income $ 344,190 4.49% $ 300,496 4.37%
======================================================================
Diluted earnings per share $ 1.04 $ 0.89
============================================= ==========
Weighted average diluted shares
(000s) 332,068 337,636
============================================= ==========
Dividends per share $ 0.160 $ 0.140
============================================= ==========
For the 13 Weeks Ended
------------------------------------
% of % of
January 28, Net January 30, Net
2005 Sales 2004 Sales
----------------- ------------------
(Restated)
Net sales $2,197,538 100.00% $1,966,488 100.00%
Cost of goods sold 1,537,561 69.97 1,389,992 70.68
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross profit 659,977 30.03 576,496 29.32
Selling, general and
administrative 439,633 20.01 392,172 19.94
Penalty - - 10,000 0.51
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating profit 220,344 10.03 174,324 8.86
Interest income (1,845) (0.08) (1,998) (0.10)
Interest expense 7,218 0.33 8,215 0.42
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Income before taxes on income 214,971 9.78 168,107 8.55
Provision for taxes on income 81,079 3.69 65,782 3.35
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net income $ 133,892 6.09% $ 102,325 5.20%
======================================================================
Diluted earnings per share $ 0.41 $ 0.30
============================================= ==========
Weighted average diluted shares
(000s) 330,402 339,866
============================================= ==========
Dividends per share $ 0.040 $ 0.035
============================================= ==========
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Dollars in thousands)
(Unaudited)
Subject to reclassification For the Years Ended
--------------------------- --------------------
January January
28, 30,
2005 2004
--------- ----------
(Restated)
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income $344,190 $300,496
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash
provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 164,478 152,019
Deferred income taxes 25,751 19,555
Tax benefit from stock option exercises 9,657 14,565
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
Merchandise inventories (219,396) (34,110)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets (3,666) (16,304)
Accounts payable 12,221 32,328
Accrued expenses and other 35,048 60,523
Income taxes 23,793 (21,464)
Other (12,377) 5,166
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net cash provided by operating activities 379,699 512,774
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment (282,135) (139,202)
Purchases of short-term investments (220,200) (199,950)
Sales of short-term investments 246,001 132,725
Purchase of promissory notes - (49,582)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment 3,324 269
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net cash used in investing activities (253,010) (255,740)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash flows from financing activities:
Net borrowings under revolving credit facilities - -
Repayments of long-term obligations (12,539) (15,907)
Payment of cash dividends (52,682) (46,883)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options 34,128 49,485
Repurchases of common stock (209,295) (29,687)
Other financing activities 630 73
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net cash used in financing activities (239,758) (42,919)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents (113,069) 214,115
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 345,899 131,784
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $232,830 $345,899
======================================================================
Supplemental schedule of noncash investing and
financing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment awaiting
processing for payment, included in
Accounts payable $ 13,315 $ 10,160
Purchases of property and equipment under
capital lease obligations $ 1,844 $ 996
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Selected Additional Information
(Unaudited)
Net Sales by Category (in thousands)
------------------------------------
13 Weeks Ended
------------------------------
January 28, January 30, %
2005 2004 Change
----------- ----------- ------
Highly consumable $1,292,227 $1,112,081 16.2%
Seasonal 453,825 418,162 8.5%
Home products 253,323 246,121 2.9%
Basic clothing 198,163 190,124 4.2%
----------- ----------- ------
Total sales $2,197,538 $1,966,488 11.7%
=========== =========== ======
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Selected Additional Information
(Unaudited)
Net Sales by Category (in thousands)
------------------------------------
Year Ended
------------------------------
January 28, January 30, %
2005 2004 Change
----------- ----------- ------
Highly consumable $4,825,051 $4,206,878 14.7%
Seasonal 1,263,991 1,156,114 9.3%
Home products 879,476 860,867 2.2%
Basic clothing 692,409 648,133 6.8%
----------- ----------- ------
Total sales $7,660,927 $6,871,992 11.5%
=========== =========== ======
New Store Activity
------------------
Year Ended
--------------------------------
January 28, January 30,
2005 2004
------------ -----------
Beginning store count 6,700 6,113
New store openings 722 673
Store closings 102 86
Net new stores 620 587
Ending store count 7,320 6,700
Total selling square footage (000's) 50,015 45,354
Customer Transaction Data
-------------------------
13 Weeks Ended Year Ended
---------------- -----------------
January January January January
28, 30, 28, 30,
2005 2004 2005 2004
-------- ------- ------- --------
Percentage increase in
same-store customer transactions +2.0 % +2.3 % +2.7 % +3.5 %
Average customer purchase
(total stores) $ 9.26 $ 9.09 $ 8.64 $ 8.56
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Disclosures
(In thousands, except per share amounts)
13 Weeks Ended Year Ended
January 30, January 30,
2004 2004
-------------- -----------
(Restated)
Net Income and Earnings Per Share
- -------------------------------------------
Net income in accordance with GAAP $ 102,325 $ 300,496
Non-deductible penalty 10,000 10,000
-------------- -----------
Net income, excluding non-deductible
penalty $ 112,325 $ 310,496
============== ===========
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding 339,866 337,636
============== ===========
Diluted earnings per share, excluding
non-deductible penalty $ 0.33 $ 0.92
============== ===========
Operating Profit Margin
- -------------------------------------------
Operating profit in accordance with GAAP $ 174,324 $ 510,464
Non-deductible penalty 10,000 10,000
-------------- -----------
Operating profit, excluding non-deductible
penalty $ 184,324 $ 520,464
============== ===========
Operating profit, excluding non-deductible
penalty,% to sales 9.4% 7.6%
============== ===========
DOLLAR GENERAL CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Non-GAAP Disclosures
Return on Invested Capital (a)
For the Years Ended
-----------------------
January 28, January 30,
(Dollars in thousands) 2005 2004
----------- -----------
(Restated)
Net income $ 344,190 $ 300,496
Add:
Interest expense, net 22,219 31,503
Rent expense 291,215 248,487
Tax effect of interest and rent (111,583) (104,436)
----------- -----------
Interest and rent, net of tax 201,851 175,554
----------- -----------
Return, net of tax $ 546,041 $ 476,050
Non-deductible penalty - 10,000
----------- -----------
Return excluding non-deductible penalty $ 546,041 $ 486,050
=========== ===========
Average Invested Capital:
Average long-term obligations (b) $ 288,539 $ 309,234
Shareholders' equity (c) 1,555,664 1,399,684
Average rent x 8 (d) 2,158,808 1,861,960
----------- -----------
Invested capital $4,003,011 $3,570,878
=========== ===========
Return on invested capital 13.6% 13.3%
=========== ===========
Return on invested capital, excluding
non-deductible penalty 13.6% 13.6%
=========== ===========
(a)The Company believes that the most directly comparable ratio
calculated solely using GAAP measures is the ratio of net income
to the sum of average long-term obligations, including current
portion, and average shareholders' equity. This ratio was 18.7%
and 17.6% for fiscal 2004 and 2003, respectively.
(b)Average long-term obligations is equal to the average long-term
obligations, including current portion, measured at the end of
each of the last five fiscal quarters.
(c)Average shareholders' equity is equal to the average shareholders'
equity measured at the end of each of the last five fiscal
quarters.
(d)Average rent expense is computed using a rolling two-year period.
Average rent expense is multiplied by a factor of eight to
capitalize operating leases in the determination of pretax invested
capital. This is a conventional methodology utilized by credit
rating agencies and investment bankers.
Return on Assets
For the Years Ended
-----------------------
January 28, January 30,
(Dollars in thousands) 2005 2004
----------- -----------
(Restated)
Net income $ 344,190 $ 300,496
Non-deductible penalty - 10,000
----------- -----------
Net income, excluding non-deductible penalty 344,190 310,496
Average assets (a) $2,705,786 $2,428,344
----------- -----------
Return on assets 12.7% 12.4%
=========== ===========
Return on assets, excluding non-deductible
penalty 12.7% 12.8%
=========== ===========
(a)Average assets is equal to the average total assets measured at the
end of each of the last five fiscal quarters.
CONTACT: Dollar General Corporation
Investor Contact:
Emma Jo Kauffman, 615-855-5525
or
Media Contact:
Tawn Earnest, 615-855-5209