Family Dollar February same-store sales up 1.3 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N) on Thursday posted a better-than-expected 1.3 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year as shoppers turned to the discount chain for consumables like food and detergent as well as seasonal items and consumer electronics.

Analysts on average had been expecting a same-store sales decrease of 0.2 percent, according to a Reuters survey.

Net sales for the four weeks ended on March 1 rose 4.4 percent to $533.7 million.

Family Dollar said this year's earlier Easter holiday would hurt sales in March and help them in April. The company will close its stores for the holiday, which falls on March 23 this year, while last year Easter was on April 8.

As a result, the company forecast same-store sales would fall 2 percent to 4 percent in March.

Family Dollar shares were down 2 cents at $20.06 in early New York Stock Exchange trade.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Von Ahn)