• Diluted net earnings per share increased by 12.5% during the fourth quarter
• Annual gross margin and SG&A as percentage of sales on target
• 33 net new stores opened during the fourth quarter for a total of 65 for the year
• Quarterly cash dividend increased 10.0% to $0.044 per common share

MONTREAL, March 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - Dollarama Inc. (TSX: DOL) ("Dollarama" or the "Corporation") today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 3, 2019.

Financial and Operating Highlights

All comparative figures that follow are for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended February 3, 2019 compared to the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 28, 2018. All financial information presented in this press release has been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in Canada ("GAAP") as set out in the CPA Canada Handbook – Accounting under Part I, which incorporates International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"). The information on numbers of common shares and net earnings per share for the 13-week and 52-week periods ended January 28, 2018 presented in this press release has been retrospectively restated to reflect the three-for-one share split of the Corporation's outstanding common shares implemented on June 20, 2018 (the "Share Split"). Throughout this press release, EBITDA, EBITDA margin, total debt and net debt, which are referred to as "non-GAAP measures", are used to provide a better understanding of the Corporation's financial results. For a full explanation of the Corporation's use of non-GAAP measures, please refer to footnote 1 of the "Selected Consolidated Financial Information" section of this press release.

Throughout this press release, all references to "Fiscal 2018" are to the Corporation's fiscal year ended January 28, 2018, to "Fiscal 2019" are to the Corporation's fiscal year ended February 3, 2019, and to "Fiscal 2020" are to the Corporation's fiscal year ending February 2, 2020. The Corporation's fiscal year ends on the Sunday closest to January 31 of each year and usually has 52 weeks. However, as is traditional with the retail calendar, every five or six years, a week is added to the fiscal year. Consequently, Fiscal 2018 was comprised of 52 weeks, Fiscal 2019 was comprised of 53 weeks and Fiscal 2020 is comprised of 52 weeks.

Compared to the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018:

• Sales increased by 13.0% to $1,059.7 million;
• Comparable store sales⁽¹⁾ grew 2.6%;
• Gross margin⁽¹⁾ was 40.4% of sales, compared to 41.4% of sales;
• EBITDA⁽¹⁾ grew 7.6% to $273.2 million, or 25.8% of sales, compared to 27.1% of sales;
• Operating income grew 6.9% to $251.3 million, or 23.7% of sales, compared to 25.1% of sales; and
• Diluted net earnings per common share increased by 12.5% to $0.54 from $0.48.

During the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019, the Corporation opened 33 net new stores, compared to 25 net new stores during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

Compared to Fiscal 2018:

• Sales increased by 8.6% to $3,548.5 million;
• Comparable store sales⁽¹⁾ grew 2.7%;
• Gross margin⁽¹⁾ was 39.3% of sales, compared to 39.8% of sales;
• EBITDA⁽¹⁾ grew 7.0% to $883.8 million, or 24.9% of sales, compared to 25.3% of sales;
• Operating income grew 6.5% to $804.5 million, or 22.7% of sales, compared to 23.1% of sales; and
• Diluted net earnings per common share increased by 9.9% to $1.67 from $1.52.

During Fiscal 2019, the Corporation opened 65 net new stores, the same number of net new stores opened during Fiscal 2018.

"Dollarama delivered strong financial and operating results in Fiscal 2019, in the context of a competitive, low-inflation environment. This performance demonstrates the resilience of our business model, which rests on well-executed organic growth, our direct sourcing strengths, and our multi-price point strategy," said Neil Rossy, Dollarama's President and Chief Executive Officer.

"In Fiscal 2020, our priority is to continue to re-invest in our strong value proposition and enhance our product assortment, always with the consumer in mind. We also continue to focus on the execution of our growth strategy by adding 60 to 70 net new stores for the year, and on initiatives to increase store traffic and sales," Neil Rossy added.

Fourth Quarter Financial Results

Sales for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019 increased by 13.0% to $1,059.7 million, compared to $938.1 million in the corresponding period of the prior fiscal year. Continued organic sales growth was driven by balanced growth in comparable store sales and in the total number of stores over the past twelve months, from 1,160 stores on January 28, 2018 to 1,225 stores on February 3, 2019. Sales for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019 include sales generated during the additional week in this quarter associated with the 53-week retail calendar, which accounted for $57.7 million.

Comparable store sales grew 2.6% in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019, over and above comparable store sales growth of 5.5% in the same quarter a year ago. Year-over-year comparable store sales growth excludes the additional week in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019. Comparable store sales growth consisted of a 3.0% increase in average transaction size, partially offset by a 0.4% decrease in the number of transactions.

Gross margin was 40.4% of sales in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019, compared to 41.4% of sales in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018. Gross margin was lower due to lower product margins attributable to management's strategic decision to minimize price increases in Fiscal 2019 in order to offer an even more compelling and competitive value proposition to consumers in the prevailing retail environment.

General, administrative and store operating expenses ("SG&A") for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019 was $155.1 million, a 14.9% increase over $134.9 million for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018. This increase was primarily related to the growth in the total number of stores, an increase in minimum wage in certain jurisdictions, and the additional week in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019.

SG&A for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019 represented 14.6% of sales, compared to 14.4% of sales for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018. The 0.2% increase was the result of an increase in minimum wage in certain jurisdictions, partially offset by ongoing labour productivity initiatives. 

Net financing costs increased by $4.0 million, from $10.3 million for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018 to $14.3 million for the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019. The increase was mainly due to increased borrowings on long-term debt.

Net earnings increased to $172.0 million, or $0.54 per diluted common share, in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2019, compared to $162.8 million, or $0.48 per diluted common share, in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2018. The increase in net earnings was mainly the result of a 13.0% increase in sales, partially offset by a lower gross margin. Earnings per share were positively impacted by the repurchase of shares through the Corporation's normal course issuer bid.

Fiscal 2019 Financial Results

Sales for Fiscal 2019 increased by 8.6% to $3,548.5 million, compared to $3,266.1 million in Fiscal 2018. Continued organic sales growth was driven by balanced growth in comparable store sales and in the total number of stores over the past twelve months, from 1,160 stores on January 28, 2018 to 1,225 stores on February 3, 2019. Sales for Fiscal 2019 include sales generated during the additional week associated with the 53-week retail calendar, which accounted for $57.7 million.

Comparable store sales grew 2.7% in Fiscal 2019, over and above comparable store sales growth of 5.2% for Fiscal 2018. Year-over-year comparable store sales growth excludes the additional week in Fiscal 2019. Comparable store sales growth consisted of a 3.2% increase in average transaction size, partially offset by a 0.5% decrease in the number of transactions. The rate of comparable store sales growth in Fiscal 2019 primarily reflects management's strategic decision to limit price increases in order to offer an even more compelling and competitive value proposition to consumers in the prevailing retail environment.

In Fiscal 2019, 69.7% of sales originated from products priced higher than $1.25, compared to 67.1% in Fiscal 2018.

Gross margin was 39.3% of sales in Fiscal 2019, compared to 39.8% of sales in Fiscal 2018. Gross margin decreased mainly due to lower product margins attributable to management's decision to minimize price increases in Fiscal 2019 compared to Fiscal 2018. The decrease in gross margin was partially offset by lower occupancy costs as a percentage of sales. Gross margin includes sales made by the Corporation to Dollar City, as principal, which represent approximately 1% of the Corporation's total sales, and a nominal markup margin. Consequently, these sales had minimal impact on overall gross margin in both the current and prior year.

SG&A for Fiscal 2019 was $509.3 million, a 7.3% increase over $474.8 million for Fiscal 2018. The increase was primarily related to the growth in the total number of stores, an increase in minimum wage in certain jurisdictions and the additional week in Fiscal 2019.

SG&A for Fiscal 2019 represented 14.4% of sales, compared to 14.5% of sales for Fiscal 2018. The 0.1% improvement was mainly the result of lower variable costs driven by new and continuing labour productivity initiatives that mitigated the impact of minimum wage increases in certain jurisdictions, primarily in Ontario.

Net financing costs increased by $8.6 million, from $39.9 million for Fiscal 2018 to $48.5 million for Fiscal 2019. The increase was mainly due to increased borrowings on long-term debt.

Net earnings increased to $548.9 million, or $1.67 per diluted common share, for Fiscal 2019, compared to $519.4 million, or $1.52 per diluted common share, for Fiscal 2018. The increase in net earnings was mainly the result of an 8.6% increase in sales and lower SG&A as a percentage of sales, partially offset by a lower gross margin. Earnings per share were positively impacted by the repurchase of shares through the Corporation's normal course issuer bid.

Dividend

On March 28, 2019, the Corporation announced that its board of directors had approved a 10.0% increase of the quarterly cash dividend for holders of common shares, from $0.040 to $0.044 per common share. The Corporation's quarterly cash dividend will be paid on May 10, 2019, to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 19, 2019, and is designated as an "eligible dividend" for Canadian tax purposes.

Normal Course Issuer Bid

The total number of common shares repurchased for cancellation during Fiscal 2019 under the 2017-2018 NCIB (which expired on June 18, 2018) and the 2018-2019 NCIB amounted to 13,790,350 common shares, at a weighted average price of $38.66 per common share, for a total cash consideration of $533.1 million.

Distribution Capacity Expansion Update

The expansion of the Corporation's Montreal-area distribution centre continues to proceed on schedule and on budget. Phase 1 of the project, which was comprised of the construction of the building extension, was completed on December 21, 2018. Phase 2 of the project, which consists of construction work within the existing facility, ahead of the integration of the new building extension, is currently underway. Distribution centre operations continue at normal levels in parallel. The completion of the project, including the installation of all fixtures and equipment, is expected to occur, as planned, before the end of calendar 2019.

Dollar City Store Network Growth Update

At its latest quarter ended December 31, 2018, Dollar City operated 169 stores with 74 locations in Colombia, 43 in El Salvador and 52 in Guatemala. This is up from a total of 150 stores at the quarter ended September 30, 2018, and up from 107 stores as of December 31, 2017.

Dollar City is an independently-owned and operated value retailer with operations in El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia founded in 2009. Under an arm's length agreement signed in 2013, Dollarama provides consulting and sourcing services to Dollar City at cost, with a nominal markup in some cases, allowing Dollar City to benefit from Dollarama's business expertise and purchasing scale. Dollarama will have the option to acquire a 50.1% interest in the business starting in 2020. The Corporation continues to assess the progress of its partnership with Dollar City in Latin America.

Significant Accounting Standard Issued but not yet Adopted

In January of 2016, the IASB issued IFRS 16, "Leases", which replaces IAS 17, "Leases". The new standard is effective for fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2019. IFRS 16 will be applied for Fiscal 2020 using the full retrospective approach and the Corporation will therefore be restating comparative information for Fiscal 2019, as if IFRS 16 had always been applied. The Corporation's consolidated statement of financial position is expected to increase by approximately $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion with the addition of lease liabilities and $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion with the addition of right-of-use assets.

The guidance ranges for Fiscal 2020 are based on a number of assumptions, including the following:

• comparable store sales growth in the range of 2.5% to 3.5%;
• the number of signed offers to lease and store pipeline for the next twelve months;
• positive customer response to our product offering, value proposition and in-store merchandising;
• the active management of product margins, including by refreshing 25% to 30% of the offering on an annual basis;
• approximately three months of visibility on open orders and product margins;
• the entering into of foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge the majority of forecasted purchases of merchandise in U.S. dollars against fluctuations of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar;
• the continued execution of in‑store productivity initiatives, including, without limitation, the efficient use of advanced scheduling and the realization of cost savings and benefits aimed at improving operating expenses;
• ongoing cost monitoring;
• the capital budget for Fiscal 2020 for new store openings, maintenance capital expenditures, and transformational capital expenditures (the latter being mainly related to information technology projects) as well as the remaining costs to be incurred for the expansion of distribution capacity;
• the successful execution of our business strategy;
• the absence of a significant shift in economic conditions or material changes in the retail competitive environment; and
• the absence of unusually adverse weather, especially in peak seasons around major holidays and celebrations.

Many factors could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including risks related to: future increases in operating costs (including increases in statutory minimum wages), future increases in merchandise costs (including as a result of tariff disputes), inability to sustain assortment and replenishment of merchandise, increase in the cost or a disruption in the flow of imported goods, failure to maintain brand image and reputation, disruption of distribution infrastructure, inventory shrinkage, inability to renew store, warehouse and head office leases on favourable terms, inability to increase warehouse and distribution centre capacity in a timely manner, seasonality, market acceptance of private brands, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, competition in the retail industry, current economic conditions, failure to attract and retain quality employees, disruption in information technology systems, unsuccessful execution of the growth strategy, adverse weather including any related impact on sales, product liability claims and product recalls, litigation and regulatory compliance.

This guidance, including the various underlying assumptions, is forward-looking and should be read in conjunction with the cautionary statement on forward-looking statements.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release about our current and future plans, expectations and intentions, results, levels of activity, performance, goals or achievements or any other future events or developments constitute forward-looking statements. The words "may", "will", "would", "should", "could", "expects", "plans", "intends", "trends", "indications", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "likely" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words or other comparable words or phrases, are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to us and on estimates and assumptions made by us regarding, among other things, general economic conditions and the competitive environment within the retail industry in Canada, in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Many factors could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements or future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including the factors which are discussed in greater detail in the "Risks and Uncertainties" section of the Corporation's most recent annual management's discussion, available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

These factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect us; however, they should be considered carefully. The purpose of the forward-looking statements is to provide the reader with a description of management's expectations regarding the Corporation's financial performance and may not be appropriate for other purposes; readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made herein. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as at March 28, 2019 and we have no intention and undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

About Dollarama

Dollarama is a recognized Canadian value retailer offering a broad assortment of consumable products, general merchandise and seasonal items both in-store and online. Our 1,225 locations across Canada provide customers with compelling value in convenient locations, including metropolitan areas, mid-sized cities and small towns. Select consumable and general merchandise products are also available by the full case only through our online store at www.dollarama.com. Our quality merchandise is sold at select, fixed price points up to $4.00.

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SOURCE Dollarama Inc.