Family Dollar March same-store sales down 4.4 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Thursday that sales at stores open at least a year fell a greater-than-expected 4.4 percent in March, due in part to the early Easter holiday.

Analysts on average had been expecting the discount store chain's same-store sales to fall 3.9 percent, according to Reuters Estimates.

Earlier this month, the company forecast March same-store sales to fall 4 percent to 5 percent, a steeper decline than its previous view for a drop of 2 percent to 4 percent.

Family Dollar, based in Matthews, North Carolina, said March sales had suffered as the shift of Easter from April last year to March this year resulted in one less selling day.

The company said sales of consumable items, such as food and paper goods, were strongest, while demand for clothing, lawn and garden products, and other discretionary categories was soft.

Net sales for the five weeks ended April 5 decreased 1.6 percent to $641.2 million from $651.4 million a year earlier.

The company said it expected same-store sales to rise 4 percent to 6 percent in April.

Family Dollar shares were up 14 cents, or nearly 1 percent, at $18.93 in morning New York Stock Exchange trading.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)