MONTREAL — Dollarama Inc. suspended its financial guidance due to the COVID-19 pandemic as it reported its fourth-quarter profit rose compared with a year ago.

The retailer says it saw sales surge in February and early March as customers stocked up, but then drop off as increasingly strict measures were taken to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The comments came as the retailer reported a fourth-quarter profit of $178.7 million or 57 cents per diluted share, up from $171.0 million or 53 cents per diluted share in the same period a year earlier.

Sales for the 13-week period ended Feb. 2 totalled nearly $1.07 billion, up from nearly $1.06 billion in a 14-week period ended Feb. 3, 2019.

Dollarama is on the list of essential business in Ontario and Quebec, where the governments have mandated non-essential businesses close in an effort to slow the pandemic.

As of March 30, 1,237 Dollarama stores out of 1,291 locations across Canada were open and operational.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:DOL)

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