A Dollarama store is seen June 11, 2013 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
January 17, 2014 - 5:01 AM
MONTREAL - Dollarama Inc. (TSX:DOL) says bad weather and power outages last month had a severe impact on its December sales but they have been trending back to normal levels.
The Montreal-based retailer says comparable-store sales in the normally busy month were down 7.5 per cent from a year earlier, largely offsetting an 8.4 per cent increase in November.
Dollarama says it's treating the December sales dip as an exceptional event, due to temporary store closures and fewer customers during storms and power outages.
The company didn't provide an estimate for its fourth-quarter results, which began Nov. 4 and ends Feb. 2 and said it didn't plan to comment further until it releases its next quarterly report.
Dollarama is expected to issue its fourth-quarter and annual results in early April.
Prior to Dollarama's statement before markets opened Friday, analysts were looking for it to generate about $617 million of revenue and $1.21 per share of adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014