Dollar General raises annual comparable sales forecast on steady demand, shares jump

Aug. 27 (Reuters) - Discount retailer Dollar General raised its annual comparable sales forecast on Thursday, betting on its lower-priced essentials to attract value-seeking shoppers amid macroeconomic uncertainty, sending its shares up about 8% in premarket trading.

Rising costs of living have been pushing consumers to increasingly look for value and trade down, helping boost sales at dollar-store operators such as Dollar General.

The company's quarterly same-store sales rose 3.5% from a year earlier, as customer traffic increased by 2% and the average transaction amount by 1.5%.

Dollar General expects annual same-store sales to grow in the range of 2.5% to 2.9%, compared with its previous forecast of 2.2% to 2.7%.