US discount store chain Dollar Tree has reported a 4.3% growth in gross profit for the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) to $9.3bn, compared to $8.9m in FY22.
During the year ending 3 February 2023, the company's consolidated net sales saw an 8.0% increase to $30.6bn, with enterprise same-store net sales rising by 4.6%.
Dollar Tree's same-store net sales grew by 5.8%, propelled by a 7.4% rise in customer traffic, and Family Dollar reported a 3.2% increase in same-store net sales.
The retailer experienced a net loss of $998.4m in FY23, with a diluted loss per share of $4.55.
Its operating loss for the fiscal year was $881.8m and adjusted operating income decreased 20.0% on a non-generally accepted accounting principles basis.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, Dollar Tree's gross profit surged by 16.2% to $2.7bn, and its gross margin grew by 120 basis points to 32.1%.
The company’s consolidated net sales were $8.63bn in Q4 FY23, up 11.9% compared to $7.7bn in FY22.
The net loss for the quarter was $1.7bn and its diluted loss per share was $7.85.
During the quarter, Dollar Tree launched a comprehensive store portfolio optimisation review of its business. As a result, it plans to close 600 Family Dollar Stores in the first half of fiscal 2024.
It also plans to close approximately 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores through the mid-2020s.
Dollar Tree chairman and chief executive officer Rick Dreiling said: "We finished the year strong, with fourth-quarter results reflecting positive traffic trends, market share gains and adjusted margin improvement across both segments.
“While we are still in the early stages of our transformation journey, I am proud of what our team accomplished in 2023 and see a long runway of growth ahead of us. As we look forward in 2024, we are accelerating our multi-price rollout at Dollar Tree and taking decisive action to improve profitability and unlock value at Family Dollar."
For full-year fiscal 2024, the company expects consolidated net sales between $31.0bn and $32.0bn.
Dollar Tree also anticipates diluted earnings per share to range from $6.70 to $7.30.
