Dollarama reports Q1 profit and sales up from year ago

Dollarama Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $302.3 million, up from $273.8 million in the same quarter last year, as its sales increased more than 20%.

The company says it profit amounted to $1.11 per diluted share for the quarter ended May 3 compared with a profit of 98 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Excluding an unrealized gain from a derivative on equity-accounted investments, Dollarama says it would have earned $1.05 per diluted share in its latest quarter.

Sales for the quarter totalled $1.85 billion, up from $1.52 billion in the same quarter last year.

Dollarama said the growth was driven by an increase in its total number of stores in Canada, higher comparable store sales and its Australian acquisition.

Comparable store sales in Canada for the quarter were up 5.6% helped by a 3.5% increase in the number of transactions and a 2% increase in average transaction size.