Dollarama reported increases in sales, net earnings and earnings per share for the first quarter ended May 1, 2016.
Article continues below
Diluted net earnings per share rose 36% to $0.68. Sales for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017 increased by 13.2% to $641.0 million, compared to
$566.1 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
The increase in sales was driven by the growth in the total number of stores over the past twelve months, from 972 stores on May 3, 2015 to 1,038 stores on May 1, 2016, and continued organic sales growth fuelled by comparable store sales growth of 6.6%, over and above comparable store sales growth of 6.9% in the first quarter of Fiscal 2016.
Comparable store sales growth for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017 consisted of a 3.7% increase in the average transaction size and a 2.8% increase in the number of transactions. In this quarter, 60.5% of our sales originated from products priced higher than $1.25, compared to 55.8% in the corresponding quarter last year.
The gross margin was 37.0% of sales in the first quarter of Fiscal 2017, compared to 36.0% of sales in the first quarter of Fiscal 2016. This increase is mainly attributable to higher product margins, lower logistics costs as a percentage of sales as a result of operational improvements as well as the positive scaling impact of strong comparable store sales.
General, administrative and store operating expenses (SG&A) for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017 totalled $102.9 million, a 5.2% increase over $97.9 million for the first quarter of Fiscal 2016.
This increase is primarily related to the continued growth in the total number of stores. SG&A for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017 represented 16.1% of sales, compared to 17.3% of sales for the first quarter of Fiscal 2016. The improvement of 1.2% in SG&A as a percentage of sales is mainly the result of store labour productivity improvements and the positive scaling impact of strong comparable store sales.
Financing costs increased by $1.0 million, from $5.6 million for the first quarter of Fiscal 2016 to $6.6 million for the first quarter of Fiscal 2017. The increase is mainly due to higher debt levels, partially offset by lower interest rates.
Net earnings increased to $83.2 million, or $0.68 per diluted common share, in the first quarter of Fiscal 2017, compared to $64.8 million, or $0.50 per diluted common share, in the first quarter of Fiscal 2016.
The 28.4% increase in net earnings is mainly the result of a 13.2% increase in sales as well as an improvement of the gross margin and lower SG&A as a
percentage of sales.
On June 8, 2016, Dollarama announced that its board of directors had approved a quarterly cash dividend for holders of common shares of $0.10 per common share.
The corporation’s quarterly cash dividend will be paid on August 3, 2016 to shareholders of record at the close of business on July 8, 2016 and is designated as an “eligible dividend” for Canadian tax purposes. ■
Predominant upper-level ridging stretching from the Southwest to the southern High Plains will allow for another day of record-breaking heat across parts of Nevada and Arizona today.