99 Cents Only Stores said sales for the fiscal first quarter of 2006 ending June 30 rose by 7.7 percent to $263.6 million.

The Commerce-based discount retailer added that same-store sales rose 3.6 percent from a year earlier. Same store sales measure sales at stores opened at least one year.

The company also opened 12 additional stores, five of which are in California, and now has a total of 237 stores nation wide. Shares of 99 Cents Only continue to rise, coming in around $11 a share in early trading on Friday. The shares had fallen 15 percent in the past year.