Retailer Dollarama reports Q4 profit and sales up, raises quarterly dividend

Dollarama Inc. says its fourth-quarter profit and sales rose compared with a year ago even as poor weather hurt store traffic.

The retailer also raised its quarterly dividend to 12 cents per share, up from 10.58 cents per share.

Dollarama says it earned $392.5 million or $1.43 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended Feb. 1.

The result compared with a profit of $391.0 million or $1.40 per diluted share in the 14-week period a year earlier.

Sales for the quarter totalled $2.10 billion, up from $1.88 billion in the same quarter a year ago, boosted by its acquisition in Australia and an increase in the number of stores in Canada.

Comparable store sales in Canada for the quarter were up 1.5%, as the average transaction size rose 3.1%, offset in part by a 1.6% drop in the number of transactions.