Dollarama Inc. — Call Transcript 2026

Good morning, and welcome to Dollarama's First Quarter Fiscal 2027 results conference call. On today's call are Neil Rossy, President and CEO, and Patrick Bui, CFO. They will begin with brief remarks, followed by a Q&A with financial analysts. Before we begin, please note that today's remarks may contain forward-looking statements about Dollarama's current and future plans, expectations, intentions, results, or other future events or developments. Forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to management on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by management. Many factors could cause actual results, future events, or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent management's expectations as at June 11, 2026. Except as may be required by law, Dollarama has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. You are invited to consult the cautionary statements on forward-looking statements in Dollarama's management discussion and analysis dated June 11, 2026. All forward-looking statements on today's call are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. In addition, Dollarama may refer to certain non-GAAP and other financial measures during this call. Please consult the non-GAAP and other financial measures section of Dollarama's MD&A dated June 11, 2026, for definitions, reconciliations and appropriate GAAP measures and other information. The disclosure documents related to this call are available in the investor relations section of dollarama.com and on SEDAR+. I will now turn the call over to Neil Rossy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 as we pursued profitable growth in our core Canadian market while advancing our priorities across our international growth platforms. Starting in Canada, our value proposition continued to resonate with consumers as affordability and everyday value remain top of mind in an uncertain economic environment. We generated an impressive 5.6% same-store sales increase in Q1, supported by both traffic and basket growth, reflecting once again the relevance of our offering and year-round value proposition for Canadian consumers. On the real estate front, we opened 28 net new stores during the quarter, bringing our total store count in Canada to 1,719 stores at quarter end. We remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2027 target, which is to open between 60 and 70 net new stores this year. As previously discussed, front-loading store openings during the fiscal year is always the objective, given that the back half historically represents our seasonally busiest sales period. This ensures that we can maximize focus on store operations and serving customers. Congratulations to the operations and real estate teams on this strong execution early in the year. Work also progressed well on the construction of our future logistics hub in Western Canada. This project is an important component of our long-term growth and future two-node distribution model in Canada. I am pleased that we remain on budget and on schedule with the facility expected to be fully operational by the end of calendar 2027. Turning to Latin America, Dollarcity also had a solid start to the year, generating continued profitable growth supported by strong same-store sales and ongoing network expansion while the team simultaneously executes the ramp-up of the Mexico business. During the quarter, Dollarcity opened 20 net new stores across our Central and South American markets, bringing the total store count in the region to 741 locations. In Mexico, we ended the quarter with 11 stores consistent with prior period end and opened two new stores earlier this month. As with previous Dollarcity market entries, we are scaling this new growth platform carefully and progressively over time. In Australia, we have now begun advancing our transformation roadmap in earnest. On the merchandising front, the first Dollarama sourced products started reaching shelves after quarter end. As a reminder, this will be a gradual rollout as we work SKU by SKU to introduce even more compelling value to Australian consumers, leveraging our proven low price point, value-oriented product offering. We don't expect to reach a critical mass of Dollarama import products before year end, by which time we expect to have about half of our import products transitioned. In terms of shopping experience, we've fully renovated 13 stores during the quarter and opened eight net new stores. By quarter end, 28 of our 410 locations in Australia were operating with the Dollarama layout and fixtures. Beyond improving store navigation for the consumer, the updated format allows for greater SKU density. Although these customer-facing changes remain preliminary, we have seen encouraging signs in terms of customer interest and reception to the new layouts and to our imports SKUs as they gradually make their way across Australia. While it remains far too early to draw conclusions with such a small sample size, these initial indicators are certainly motivating the team as we continue to execute our roadmap. Looking more broadly, uncertainty persists across the global economy, driven by ongoing geopolitical developments, which are driving further inflationary pressures for consumers and businesses. From a retail operating perspective, these conditions are impacting global supply chains and costs related to raw materials and transportation. The duration of the conflict in the Middle East and its ripple effects will ultimately determine the magnitude of these pressures. In this context, as always, we remain focused on the elements within our control. Our business model continues to provide flexibility and resilience to mitigate some of those pressures, supported by our direct sourcing capabilities, operational excellence, disciplined approach to pricing, and multi-price point strategy. Looking ahead, we expect our strong value positioning to continue resonating with consumers as they remain mindful of their spending. Our job is to leverage our agile business model, sourcing expertise, and retail execution to continue delivering affordable everyday value and convenience across our markets. With that, I'll pass it over to Patrick. Thank you, Neil, and good morning, everyone. Starting with our consolidated results, sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 increased by 21.4% to nearly CAD 1.9 billion. The increase reflects network and same-store sales growth in Canada, as well as the sales contribution from Australia. EBITDA increased 17.4%, coming in at CAD 583 million for Q1, representing an EBITDA margin of 31.6%. Net earnings totaled CAD 302 million and diluted EPS increased 13.3%, reaching CAD 1.11 compared to diluted EPS of CAD 0.98 last year. Similar to Q1 of last year, we recorded an unrealized gain during the quarter on the fair value of the Dollarcity call option, positively impacting EBITDA margin by 90 basis points and EPS by CAD 0.06. While this represents an accounting adjustment rather than an operating item, it reflects the strong underlying performance of Dollarcity. Our core Canadian business generated a strong financial performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 across our KPIs. Same-store sales increased by 5.6% over and above 4.9% growth last year, with sustained demand for our everyday products. Elevated same-store sales in Q1 also reflect the recovery in demand following the weather-related disruptions that impacted traffic in Q4 of last year. Following years of inflation, consumers continue to face more inflation and rising costs, including on fuel and everyday goods. While this reinforces the importance of affordability and value in purchasing decisions, overall consumer confidence appears to be weakening. As a result, we remain cautious and our outlook for SSS is unchanged at 3%-4% for the full year. Still in Canada, gross margin came in at 45% of sales, compared to 44.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with the increase primarily reflecting lower logistics costs as well as the positive impact of scaling. We do expect an uptick in supply chain-related pressures in subsequent quarters, but we believe we have the tools to partially mitigate these impacts, assuming they level off over the near term. As such, we remain cautious on gross margin, and our guidance is unchanged at 45% and 45.5% for the full year. SG&A for the Canadian segment in Q1 was 15.1% of sales, compared to 15.3% last year. The slight improvement primarily reflects the absence of transaction-related costs in Q1 of this year. Full-year SG&A guidance remains unchanged at between 14.1% and 14.6% of sales, with the positive impact of scaling expected to help offset higher store labor and operating costs. Our share of Dollarcity's net earnings grew 27.1% to CAD 51.2 million for Q1. This reflects a 37.7% year-over-year increase in net earnings from our Central and South American operations, partially offset by a CAD 4.3 million loss related to the Mexico ramp-up, in line with expectations. As disclosed last March, we made a capital contribution of US$38 million towards Mexico expansion plans in Q1. Our contribution was again funded using a portion of our US$75.1 million share of the Dollarcity dividend declared in February. Mexico will remain in investment mode through fiscal 2027. Looking now at Australia, the work underway represents a critical first step in our multi-year plan to deliver an attractive return on investment over time, and we are pleased with progress so far. From a financial performance perspective, results are tracking in line with our expectations, which remain unchanged for the full year. We continue to anticipate the merchandise changeover to lower-priced items, as well as the pace at which these new products are introduced to weigh on sales in fiscal 2027. We anticipate that impact to be more pronounced in the second and third quarter of fiscal year as we accelerate the pace of the transition to lower priced SKUs. Capital expenditures related to store renovations and new store openings, as well as expenses related to the deployment of operational initiatives, are also tracking according to plan. As a reminder, we expect to renovate 60-80 stores and to open 15-25 net new stores in fiscal 2027. As we invest in our growth priorities in Canada and the transformation of our business in Australia, we also continued to deploy excess cash to create immediate shareholder value. During the quarter, we were active on share repurchases. We bought back nearly 2 million common shares for cancellation under our NCIB program for a total consideration of CAD 339.1 million. We also announced today that the board approved a quarterly cash dividend of CAD 0.12 per share. Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our expectations across our markets remain broadly unchanged, and our priorities are clear as we move towards the second half of the year. The fundamentals of our business are strong. Our value proposition continues to resonate with consumers, and we believe we have the tools and flexibility to help mitigate some of the external pressures we are seeing today. We will continue to focus on the disciplined execution of our priorities in all markets, serving customers with value and convenience, and deploying capital in a manner that supports long-term shareholder value creation. With that, I'll now turn the call back to the operator for the Q&A. Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question each. Our first question comes from the line of Irene Nattel from RBC Capital Markets. Your question, please. Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Great to see the same-store sales recovering in Q1. Can you give us some more color, Neil or Patrick, just on the cadence of sales, what people are buying, obviously poor weather, how did that impact, and if you can, what we've seen Q2 to date, again, recognizing that weather just wasn't our friend. Yeah, look, I could maybe comment more specifically about Q1. I think in Q1, we saw fairly consistent trends throughout the quarter, including as we exited the quarter. There appears to have been some strength, some pent-up demand in the front end, after a softer Q4. As we moved through the quarter, like other retailers, there was some variability in the back end due to the late arrival of spring and summer. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian Morrison from TD. Your question, please. I want to ask a question on Australia, maybe, Neil. I appreciate the details you gave, but help me understand the progression of store renovation to your format, to merchandising the store, to putting it under a Dollarama banner. I heard the renovation totals and targets, but did you say half of your imported product will be here by year-end? The question I have is, when will there be sufficient imported merchandise to call a store one of your own? Will the new merchandise not be placed in the store until the renovation's complete? I know it's early, but you stated initial positive reception to the merchandise. What makes you say that? Thank you, Brian. Our goal is to renovate 400 stores over the next four years, averaging 100 stores a year. In Q1, so far, we've renovated 13 this year. Our goal is to renovate between 60 and 80. By the end of the year, we should have about half of our imported SKUs in the stores, as you mentioned, and that will continue to trickle in as time goes on in a very linear fashion. From the perspective of rebannering, we will never rebanner a store until it has been renovated or unless it's a new store. There's not going to be a specific SKU count that's going to trigger that. It's going to be more a question of management from Canada, honestly, since we have the experience, going to Australia and judging that the overall shop feels like the value that we're trying to portray is Dollarama value. At that point, we will change the brand. As we're building out the new stores, we are building them out in our colors with the TRS branding so that the capital being spent is being spent in a strategic manner for the long term. For certain, it will not change until the shop feels like a Dollarama shop. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Martin Landry from Stifel. Your question, please. Hi, good morning. In Canada, I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about your product offering. Is there any categories that you've added recently that are doing well? Can you talk about maybe two categories of interest, pet and toys, to see how these categories are doing for you guys? Sure. No, there hasn't been any new categories added to the store. The existing categories flex over time, depending on the interest of the customer. When there are trends in the toy industry that make toys hot, we tend to buy more toys. When crafting is experiencing a trend, we tend to have more craft items in the store. As retailers, within the limits of our fixed price points, we're always trying to offer as much as we can in the categories that are hottest. Toys happens to be quite hot right now, with a few trends going on, and for certain, that's helping the toy section of our store perform. Thank you. Our next question comes to the line of Chris Li from Desjardins. Your question please. Good morning, everyone. Sorry if I missed this earlier, Patrick, can you elaborate on the drivers of the lower logistics costs that help margins during the quarter, and then sort of what are the main puts and takes for the rest of the year as we think about the gross margin? Thanks. In terms of logistics, we clearly benefited from scaling of having a 5.6% SSS. From a logistics standpoint, it was a smooth quarter. We did not incur any friction or detention costs that we would normally incur in a normal quarter. I would like to point out that when we talk about the impacts of higher fuel, none of that actually impacted the first quarter. These costs are to be expected later on in the year and specifically, in the second half of the year. That being said, for the time being, we're maintaining the guidance, the 45%-45.5%. We do assume that the conflict will end soon and that fuel prices will normalize in short order. Thank you. Now our next question comes from the line of Zhihan Ma from Bernstein. Your question please. Hi, thank you. Back on the Australia side of things, could you talk about the timeline of when some of the TRS assortments are being retired and when you're introducing the new assortment? Is there gonna be some sort of a gap in between that may impact sales this year? Broadly speaking, how are you getting the words out to the Australian consumers? Are you gonna have marketing campaigns or this is gonna be more of a word of mouth? Thank you. The transition from TRS goods to Dollarama goods is a progressive transition. For example, I'll use a very specific example. If we bring in five new sponge SKUs in the cleaning department, as we see the timing of those SKUs arriving into Australia, we'll know how many months of inventory we have of the, for example, five existing TRS sponge SKUs, and we'll have sold down our inventory levels so that the transition doesn't lead to gaps, but also doesn't lead to excess inventory. Timing it perfectly never works, of course, but give or take, you're trying to do a transition that's manageable at store level and inventory level. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Petrie from CIBC Capital Markets. Your question please. Yeah, thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask about Dollarcity. Just curious if you could give some color on what looks like a strong same-store sales performance in LATAM. With regards to Mexico, wondering how you think we should look at sort of no new stores in Q1. I think you said you open two early in Q2. Also just an update maybe on how those Mexico stores are performing. Yeah. Thanks for the question. Look, LATAM, yes, the business continues to perform well. It's very similar trends that we're seeing here in Canada. We're quite happy with the progress of the business in Latin America. Mexico, at the end of the quarter, we were at 11 stores. It's just the way how the pipeline worked. We were very happy to pull forward a few stores into the end of last year. We're happy to see the progression and as Neil mentioned in his prepared remarks, we've already opened another two stores, so we're at 13 and a few others to come. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Zamparo from Scotiabank. Your question please. Thanks very much. Good morning. I wanted to ask about cost of goods inflation and in particular, inflation in China has accelerated fairly quickly. I wonder what you're seeing on your end, and does that make you want to accelerate or revisit your product refresh rate, or do you need to get more creative with your suppliers on how to navigate within your CAD 5 price limit? Any color on that would be helpful. Thank you. Sure. There's no question that there's pressure on pricing in China, especially in the plastics. The heavier and larger the item, the more plastic there is, the greater the impact on that item. Much like during COVID, where freight rates were astronomical and we parked a few items, we are parking some very large, high cube plastic items. That's really extreme as a case. In general, we're using our ability as importers to always change the mix throughout the whole year for a multitude of different reasons, to provide a mix that hits the margin percentages we're hoping to achieve, while of course always keeping the best relative value to the market that we can provide our consumers. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vishal Shreedhar from National Bank Financial. Your question, please. Hi. Thanks for taking my question. With respect to the same-store sales growth that you saw in Canada, could you give us a sense of, has inflation in that actual comp accelerated? Is that due to product inflation from your suppliers, or is that due to Dollarama creating a mix shift within its basket by allocating more items to higher price points? Yeah. If you recall, towards the end of last year, there were some price increases on the domestic side, which led us to increase pricing as well. What you see in the SSS is a carry forward from those price increases from last year, you could assume that those price increases at the end of last year should tail off as we advance throughout the year. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Edward Kelly from Wells Fargo. Your question, please. Hi. Good morning, everyone. A nice quarter, and thanks for taking the question. I wanted to circle back on Australia and how we should be thinking about the impact of all the investments that are being made this year in the business. The Q1 gross margin at 34.4% looks a little bit on the low side versus sort of what we saw the rest of the year. I'm just kind of curious, Patrick, how much gross margin pressure you might see from here? The investment that you talked about last quarter, is that still the right number? As it pertains to the loss that the business might see, it's not hard to get yourself in the neighborhood of like CAD 55 million-CAD 60 million, something like that, or more. I'm just curious, is that ballpark? Thank you. Yeah. I would say, all the comments with respect to how we're thinking about the forecast in Australia that we presented last quarter, nothing has changed. As we completed Q1, we're exactly on that plan. If we go back to the commentary about the three pillars, all of that remains the same, and we're happy that we're tracking exactly on plan. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Carden from UBS. Your question, please. Good morning. Thanks so much for taking the question. I want to circle back on the supply chain. You guys called out the higher costs resulting from the conflict, factoring in a resolution in the near term. If the conflict did persist, though, over the course of the next few quarters, how much of an impact could it have on your margin structure as those pressures ramp up in the second half of the year? Just how should we think about the sensitivity there? Thanks. Yeah. That's a really tough one. Who knows what the price of fuel and the impact on the cost of products will be. The only thing that we could say is that after Q1, it certainly dragged on longer than we had initially anticipated. That being said, we've kept the margin at 45%-45.5%. We're comfortable reiterating that guidance with the assumption that things will resolve themselves in short order. Certainly, if the conflict and fuel prices increase and drag on for a much longer period, while at that point, we may need to revise our assumptions. If things calm down very quickly, we feel comfortable reaffirming that guidance on the gross margin. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe from Jefferies. Your question, please. Great, thanks. Patrick, I wanted to ask on the outlook, is there any consideration around any change in the leverage point? The reason I ask is that your SG&A guide on a 3%-4% comp embeds both leverage and deleverage, I'm wondering what the swing factors are or drivers to get from one end to the other. Thanks so much. Yeah. Leveraging SG&A is truthfully a greater challenge in the business. We feel that a lot of the material improvements that we've done in the business, a lot of it is more behind us than ahead of us. We always remind people that continuing to improve on that SG&A remains a challenge for us. There's certain line items that are increasing at a very high rate. You think at funding recycling programs, a good example of line items that are increasing quite materially year-over-year. When you look at the balance of the year and what we had planned when we provided our guidance is that, to the extent that we could achieve same-store sales within that range, there should be some incremental leverage in the business, but then again, not to expect any material improvements on that end. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Luke Hannan from Canaccord Genuity. Your question, please. Yeah, thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask about the competitive environment as it relates to the three jurisdictions that you participate in, and then more specifically, whether or not the price gaps relative to what you view as your closest competitors in those markets, whether those have changed materially over the course of the quarter. Thanks. They haven't changed by a margin worth discussing. Certainly, each market has a different competitive set and a competitive situation. In Canada, I should say in every market, we consider everybody competition, of course. As you would expect, there are stronger competitors that we focus on in each market. The Australian market is a very competitive market at this point in time. It was less so a couple of years ago. We've seen that in Canada, we've seen it now in our Central and South American operation. It comes in waves, the level of competitiveness goes up and goes down over the course of time for different reasons, of course. I would say consistently, our job, regardless of all of that, is to ensure that in each market, our relative value is the best, and that our execution at store level is on par or better than everybody else's, and that a customer who comes to a Dollarama sees great relative value in a nice, clean shopping environment, in a very convenient-sized shop, and as close to their house as possible over the course of time. That's what we remain focused on. Of course, to do that, we have to keep an eye on all of the competition in every one of the three countries or regions we're in, and that will be the case forever. Thank you. This does conclude the question and answer session, as well as today's program. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation. You may now disconnect. Good day.

Speaker 12: Good morning, and welcome to Dollarama's First Quarter Fiscal 2027 results conference call. On today's call are Neil Rossy, President and CEO, and Patrick Bui, CFO. They will begin with brief remarks, followed by a Q&A with financial analysts. Before we begin, please note that today's remarks may contain forward-looking statements about Dollarama's current and future plans, expectations, intentions, results, or other future events or developments. Good morning, and welcome to Dollarama's First Quarter Fiscal 2027 results conference call. good morning and welcome to dollarama's first quarter fiscal 2027 results conference call On today's call are Neil Rossy, President and CEO, and Patrick Bui, CFO. on today's call are neil rossy president and ceo and patrick bui cfo They will begin with brief remarks, followed by a Q&A with financial analysts. they will begin with brief remarks followed by a q&a with financial analysts Before we begin, please note that today's remarks may contain forward-looking statements about Dollarama's current and future plans, expectations, intentions, results, or other future events or developments. before we begin please note that today's remarks may contain forward-looking statements about dollarama's current and future plans expectations intentions results or other future events or developments Forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to management on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by management. Many factors could cause actual results, future events, or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent management's expectations as at June 11, 2026. Forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to management on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by management. forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to management on reasonable estimates and assumptions made by management Many factors could cause actual results, future events, or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied. many factors could cause actual results future events or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements Forward-looking statements represent management's expectations as at June 11, 2026. forward-looking statements represent management's expectations as at june 11 2026 Except as may be required by law, Dollarama has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. You are invited to consult the cautionary statements on forward-looking statements in Dollarama's management discussion and analysis dated June 11, 2026. All forward-looking statements on today's call are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Except as may be required by law, Dollarama has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. except as may be required by law dollarama has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information future events or otherwise You are invited to consult the cautionary statements on forward-looking statements in Dollarama's management discussion and analysis dated June 11, 2026. you are invited to consult the cautionary statements on forward-looking statements in dollarama's management discussion and analysis dated june 11 2026 All forward-looking statements on today's call are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. all forward-looking statements on today's call are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement In addition, Dollarama may refer to certain non-GAAP and other financial measures during this call. Please consult the non-GAAP and other financial measures section of Dollarama's MD&A dated June 11, 2026, for definitions, reconciliations and appropriate GAAP measures and other information. The disclosure documents related to this call are available in the investor relations section of dollarama.com and on SEDAR+. I will now turn the call over to Neil Rossy. In addition, Dollarama may refer to certain non-GAAP and other financial measures during this call. in addition dollarama may refer to certain non-gaap and other financial measures during this call Please consult the non-GAAP and other financial measures section of Dollarama's MD&A dated June 11, 2026, for definitions, reconciliations and appropriate GAAP measures and other information. please consult the non-gaap and other financial measures section of dollarama's md&a dated june 11 2026 for definitions reconciliations and appropriate gaap measures and other information The disclosure documents related to this call are available in the investor relations section of dollarama.com and on SEDAR+. the disclosure documents related to this call are available in the investor relations section of dollarama.com and on sedar+ I will now turn the call over to Neil Rossy. i will now turn the call over to neil rossy

Speaker 11: Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 as we pursued profitable growth in our core Canadian market while advancing our priorities across our international growth platforms. Starting in Canada, our value proposition continued to resonate with consumers as affordability and everyday value remain top of mind in an uncertain economic environment. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. good morning everyone and thank you for joining us We delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 as we pursued profitable growth in our core Canadian market while advancing our priorities across our international growth platforms. we delivered a strong performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 as we pursued profitable growth in our core canadian market while advancing our priorities across our international growth platforms Starting in Canada, our value proposition continued to resonate with consumers as affordability and everyday value remain top of mind in an uncertain economic environment. starting in canada our value proposition continued to resonate with consumers as affordability and everyday value remain top of mind in an uncertain economic environment We generated an impressive 5.6% same-store sales increase in Q1, supported by both traffic and basket growth, reflecting once again the relevance of our offering and year-round value proposition for Canadian consumers. On the real estate front, we opened 28 net new stores during the quarter, bringing our total store count in Canada to 1,719 stores at quarter end. We remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2027 target, which is to open between 60 and 70 net new stores this year. We generated an impressive 5.6% same-store sales increase in Q1, supported by both traffic and basket growth, reflecting once again the relevance of our offering and year-round value proposition for Canadian consumers. we generated an impressive 5.6% same-store sales increase in q1 supported by both traffic and basket growth reflecting once again the relevance of our offering and year-round value proposition for canadian consumers On the real estate front, we opened 28 net new stores during the quarter, bringing our total store count in Canada to 1,719 stores at quarter end. on the real estate front we opened 28 net new stores during the quarter bringing our total store count in canada to 1,719 stores at quarter end We remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2027 target, which is to open between 60 and 70 net new stores this year. we remain on track to achieve our fiscal 2027 target which is to open between 60 and 70 net new stores this year As previously discussed, front-loading store openings during the fiscal year is always the objective, given that the back half historically represents our seasonally busiest sales period. This ensures that we can maximize focus on store operations and serving customers. Congratulations to the operations and real estate teams on this strong execution early in the year. Work also progressed well on the construction of our future logistics hub in Western Canada. As previously discussed, front-loading store openings during the fiscal year is always the objective, given that the back half historically represents our seasonally busiest sales period. as previously discussed front-loading store openings during the fiscal year is always the objective given that the back half historically represents our seasonally busiest sales period This ensures that we can maximize focus on store operations and serving customers. this ensures that we can maximize focus on store operations and serving customers Congratulations to the operations and real estate teams on this strong execution early in the year. congratulations to the operations and real estate teams on this strong execution early in the year Work also progressed well on the construction of our future logistics hub in Western Canada. work also progressed well on the construction of our future logistics hub in western canada This project is an important component of our long-term growth and future two-node distribution model in Canada. I am pleased that we remain on budget and on schedule with the facility expected to be fully operational by the end of calendar 2027. Turning to Latin America, Dollarcity also had a solid start to the year, generating continued profitable growth supported by strong same-store sales and ongoing network expansion while the team simultaneously executes the ramp-up of the Mexico business. This project is an important component of our long-term growth and future two-node distribution model in Canada. this project is an important component of our long-term growth and future two-node distribution model in canada I am pleased that we remain on budget and on schedule with the facility expected to be fully operational by the end of calendar 2027. i am pleased that we remain on budget and on schedule with the facility expected to be fully operational by the end of calendar 2027 Turning to Latin America, Dollarcity also had a solid start to the year, generating continued profitable growth supported by strong same-store sales and ongoing network expansion while the team simultaneously executes the ramp-up of the Mexico business. turning to latin america dollarcity also had a solid start to the year generating continued profitable growth supported by strong same-store sales and ongoing network expansion while the team simultaneously executes the ramp-up of the mexico business During the quarter, Dollarcity opened 20 net new stores across our Central and South American markets, bringing the total store count in the region to 741 locations. In Mexico, we ended the quarter with 11 stores consistent with prior period end and opened two new stores earlier this month. As with previous Dollarcity market entries, we are scaling this new growth platform carefully and progressively over time. In Australia, we have now begun advancing our transformation roadmap in earnest. During the quarter, Dollarcity opened 20 net new stores across our Central and South American markets, bringing the total store count in the region to 741 locations. during the quarter dollarcity opened 20 net new stores across our central and south american markets bringing the total store count in the region to 741 locations In Mexico, we ended the quarter with 11 stores consistent with prior period end and opened two new stores earlier this month. in mexico we ended the quarter with 11 stores consistent with prior period end and opened two new stores earlier this month As with previous Dollarcity market entries, we are scaling this new growth platform carefully and progressively over time. as with previous dollarcity market entries we are scaling this new growth platform carefully and progressively over time In Australia, we have now begun advancing our transformation roadmap in earnest. in australia we have now begun advancing our transformation roadmap in earnest On the merchandising front, the first Dollarama sourced products started reaching shelves after quarter end. As a reminder, this will be a gradual rollout as we work SKU by SKU to introduce even more compelling value to Australian consumers, leveraging our proven low price point, value-oriented product offering. We don't expect to reach a critical mass of Dollarama import products before year end, by which time we expect to have about half of our import products transitioned. On the merchandising front, the first Dollarama sourced products started reaching shelves after quarter end. on the merchandising front the first dollarama sourced products started reaching shelves after quarter end As a reminder, this will be a gradual rollout as we work SKU by SKU to introduce even more compelling value to Australian consumers, leveraging our proven low price point, value-oriented product offering. as a reminder this will be a gradual rollout as we work sku by sku to introduce even more compelling value to australian consumers leveraging our proven low price point value-oriented product offering We don't expect to reach a critical mass of Dollarama import products before year end, by which time we expect to have about half of our import products transitioned. we don't expect to reach a critical mass of dollarama import products before year end by which time we expect to have about half of our import products transitioned In terms of shopping experience, we've fully renovated 13 stores during the quarter and opened eight net new stores. By quarter end, 28 of our 410 locations in Australia were operating with the Dollarama layout and fixtures. Beyond improving store navigation for the consumer, the updated format allows for greater SKU density. In terms of shopping experience, we've fully renovated 13 stores during the quarter and opened eight net new stores. in terms of shopping experience we've fully renovated 13 stores during the quarter and opened eight net new stores By quarter end, 28 of our 410 locations in Australia were operating with the Dollarama layout and fixtures. by quarter end 28 of our 410 locations in australia were operating with the dollarama layout and fixtures Beyond improving store navigation for the consumer, the updated format allows for greater SKU density. beyond improving store navigation for the consumer the updated format allows for greater sku density Although these customer-facing changes remain preliminary, we have seen encouraging signs in terms of customer interest and reception to the new layouts and to our imports SKUs as they gradually make their way across Australia. While it remains far too early to draw conclusions with such a small sample size, these initial indicators are certainly motivating the team as we continue to execute our roadmap. Although these customer-facing changes remain preliminary, we have seen encouraging signs in terms of customer interest and reception to the new layouts and to our imports SKUs as they gradually make their way across Australia. While it remains far too early to draw conclusions with such a small sample size, these initial indicators are certainly motivating the team as we continue to execute our roadmap. although these customer-facing changes remain preliminary we have seen encouraging signs in terms of customer interest and reception to the new layouts and to our imports skus as they gradually make their way across australia. while it remains far too early to draw conclusions with such a small sample size these initial indicators are certainly motivating the team as we continue to execute our roadmap Looking more broadly, uncertainty persists across the global economy, driven by ongoing geopolitical developments, which are driving further inflationary pressures for consumers and businesses. From a retail operating perspective, these conditions are impacting global supply chains and costs related to raw materials and transportation. The duration of the conflict in the Middle East and its ripple effects will ultimately determine the magnitude of these pressures. Looking more broadly, uncertainty persists across the global economy, driven by ongoing geopolitical developments, which are driving further inflationary pressures for consumers and businesses. looking more broadly uncertainty persists across the global economy driven by ongoing geopolitical developments which are driving further inflationary pressures for consumers and businesses From a retail operating perspective, these conditions are impacting global supply chains and costs related to raw materials and transportation. from a retail operating perspective these conditions are impacting global supply chains and costs related to raw materials and transportation The duration of the conflict in the Middle East and its ripple effects will ultimately determine the magnitude of these pressures. the duration of the conflict in the middle east and its ripple effects will ultimately determine the magnitude of these pressures In this context, as always, we remain focused on the elements within our control. Our business model continues to provide flexibility and resilience to mitigate some of those pressures, supported by our direct sourcing capabilities, operational excellence, disciplined approach to pricing, and multi-price point strategy. Looking ahead, we expect our strong value positioning to continue resonating with consumers as they remain mindful of their spending. In this context, as always, we remain focused on the elements within our control. in this context as always we remain focused on the elements within our control Our business model continues to provide flexibility and resilience to mitigate some of those pressures, supported by our direct sourcing capabilities, operational excellence, disciplined approach to pricing, and multi-price point strategy. our business model continues to provide flexibility and resilience to mitigate some of those pressures supported by our direct sourcing capabilities operational excellence disciplined approach to pricing and multi-price point strategy Looking ahead, we expect our strong value positioning to continue resonating with consumers as they remain mindful of their spending. looking ahead we expect our strong value positioning to continue resonating with consumers as they remain mindful of their spending Our job is to leverage our agile business model, sourcing expertise, and retail execution to continue delivering affordable everyday value and convenience across our markets. With that, I'll pass it over to Patrick. Our job is to leverage our agile business model, sourcing expertise, and retail execution to continue delivering affordable everyday value and convenience across our markets. our job is to leverage our agile business model sourcing expertise and retail execution to continue delivering affordable everyday value and convenience across our markets With that, I'll pass it over to Patrick. with that i'll pass it over to patrick

Speaker 13: Thank you, Neil, and good morning, everyone. Starting with our consolidated results, sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 increased by 21.4% to nearly CAD 1.9 billion. The increase reflects network and same-store sales growth in Canada, as well as the sales contribution from Australia. EBITDA increased 17.4%, coming in at CAD 583 million for Q1, representing an EBITDA margin of 31.6%. Net earnings totaled CAD 302 million and diluted EPS increased 13.3%, reaching CAD 1.11 compared to diluted EPS of CAD 0.98 last year. Thank you, Neil, and good morning, everyone. thank you neil and good morning everyone Starting with our consolidated results, sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 increased by 21.4% to nearly CAD 1.9 billion. starting with our consolidated results sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 increased by 21.4% to nearly cad 1.9 billion The increase reflects network and same-store sales growth in Canada, as well as the sales contribution from Australia. the increase reflects network and same-store sales growth in canada as well as the sales contribution from australia EBITDA increased 17.4%, coming in at CAD 583 million for Q1, representing an EBITDA margin of 31.6%. ebitda increased 17.4% coming in at cad 583 million for q1 representing an ebitda margin of 31.6% Net earnings totaled CAD 302 million and diluted EPS increased 13.3%, reaching CAD 1.11 compared to diluted EPS of CAD 0.98 last year. net earnings totaled cad 302 million and diluted eps increased 13.3% reaching cad 1.11 compared to diluted eps of cad 0.98 last year Similar to Q1 of last year, we recorded an unrealized gain during the quarter on the fair value of the Dollarcity call option, positively impacting EBITDA margin by 90 basis points and EPS by CAD 0.06. While this represents an accounting adjustment rather than an operating item, it reflects the strong underlying performance of Dollarcity. Our core Canadian business generated a strong financial performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 across our KPIs. Similar to Q1 of last year, we recorded an unrealized gain during the quarter on the fair value of the Dollarcity call option, positively impacting EBITDA margin by 90 basis points and EPS by CAD 0.06. similar to q1 of last year we recorded an unrealized gain during the quarter on the fair value of the dollarcity call option positively impacting ebitda margin by 90 basis points and eps by cad 0.06 While this represents an accounting adjustment rather than an operating item, it reflects the strong underlying performance of Dollarcity. while this represents an accounting adjustment rather than an operating item it reflects the strong underlying performance of dollarcity Our core Canadian business generated a strong financial performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 across our KPIs. our core canadian business generated a strong financial performance in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 across our kpis Same-store sales increased by 5.6% over and above 4.9% growth last year, with sustained demand for our everyday products. Elevated same-store sales in Q1 also reflect the recovery in demand following the weather-related disruptions that impacted traffic in Q4 of last year. Following years of inflation, consumers continue to face more inflation and rising costs, including on fuel and everyday goods. While this reinforces the importance of affordability and value in purchasing decisions, overall consumer confidence appears to be weakening. Same-store sales increased by 5.6% over and above 4.9% growth last year, with sustained demand for our everyday products. same-store sales increased by 5.6% over and above 4.9% growth last year with sustained demand for our everyday products Elevated same-store sales in Q1 also reflect the recovery in demand following the weather-related disruptions that impacted traffic in Q4 of last year. elevated same-store sales in q1 also reflect the recovery in demand following the weather-related disruptions that impacted traffic in q4 of last year Following years of inflation, consumers continue to face more inflation and rising costs, including on fuel and everyday goods. following years of inflation consumers continue to face more inflation and rising costs including on fuel and everyday goods While this reinforces the importance of affordability and value in purchasing decisions, overall consumer confidence appears to be weakening. while this reinforces the importance of affordability and value in purchasing decisions overall consumer confidence appears to be weakening As a result, we remain cautious and our outlook for SSS is unchanged at 3%-4% for the full year. Still in Canada, gross margin came in at 45% of sales, compared to 44.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with the increase primarily reflecting lower logistics costs as well as the positive impact of scaling. We do expect an uptick in supply chain-related pressures in subsequent quarters, but we believe we have the tools to partially mitigate these impacts, assuming they level off over the near term. As a result, we remain cautious and our outlook for SSS is unchanged at 3%-4% for the full year. as a result we remain cautious and our outlook for sss is unchanged at 3%-4% for the full year Still in Canada, gross margin came in at 45% of sales, compared to 44.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, with the increase primarily reflecting lower logistics costs as well as the positive impact of scaling. still in canada gross margin came in at 45% of sales compared to 44.2% in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 with the increase primarily reflecting lower logistics costs as well as the positive impact of scaling We do expect an uptick in supply chain-related pressures in subsequent quarters, but we believe we have the tools to partially mitigate these impacts, assuming they level off over the near term. we do expect an uptick in supply chain-related pressures in subsequent quarters but we believe we have the tools to partially mitigate these impacts assuming they level off over the near term As such, we remain cautious on gross margin, and our guidance is unchanged at 45% and 45.5% for the full year. SG&A for the Canadian segment in Q1 was 15.1% of sales, compared to 15.3% last year. The slight improvement primarily reflects the absence of transaction-related costs in Q1 of this year. Full-year SG&A guidance remains unchanged at between 14.1% and 14.6% of sales, with the positive impact of scaling expected to help offset higher store labor and operating costs. As such, we remain cautious on gross margin, and our guidance is unchanged at 45% and 45.5% for the full year. as such we remain cautious on gross margin and our guidance is unchanged at 45% and 45.5% for the full year SG&A for the Canadian segment in Q1 was 15.1% of sales, compared to 15.3% last year. sg&a for the canadian segment in q1 was 15.1% of sales compared to 15.3% last year The slight improvement primarily reflects the absence of transaction-related costs in Q1 of this year. the slight improvement primarily reflects the absence of transaction-related costs in q1 of this year Full-year SG&A guidance remains unchanged at between 14.1% and 14.6% of sales, with the positive impact of scaling expected to help offset higher store labor and operating costs. full-year sg&a guidance remains unchanged at between 14.1% and 14.6% of sales with the positive impact of scaling expected to help offset higher store labor and operating costs Our share of Dollarcity's net earnings grew 27.1% to CAD 51.2 million for Q1. This reflects a 37.7% year-over-year increase in net earnings from our Central and South American operations, partially offset by a CAD 4.3 million loss related to the Mexico ramp-up, in line with expectations. As disclosed last March, we made a capital contribution of US$38 million towards Mexico expansion plans in Q1. Our contribution was again funded using a portion of our US$75.1 million share of the Dollarcity dividend declared in February. Our share of Dollarcity's net earnings grew 27.1% to CAD 51.2 million for Q1. our share of dollarcity's net earnings grew 27.1% to cad 51.2 million for q1 This reflects a 37.7% year-over-year increase in net earnings from our Central and South American operations, partially offset by a CAD 4.3 million loss related to the Mexico ramp-up, in line with expectations. this reflects a 37.7% year-over-year increase in net earnings from our central and south american operations partially offset by a cad 4.3 million loss related to the mexico ramp-up in line with expectations As disclosed last March, we made a capital contribution of US$38 million towards Mexico expansion plans in Q1. as disclosed last march we made a capital contribution of us$38 million towards mexico expansion plans in q1 Our contribution was again funded using a portion of our US$75.1 million share of the Dollarcity dividend declared in February. our contribution was again funded using a portion of our us$75.1 million share of the dollarcity dividend declared in february Mexico will remain in investment mode through fiscal 2027. Looking now at Australia, the work underway represents a critical first step in our multi-year plan to deliver an attractive return on investment over time, and we are pleased with progress so far. From a financial performance perspective, results are tracking in line with our expectations, which remain unchanged for the full year. Mexico will remain in investment mode through fiscal 2027. mexico will remain in investment mode through fiscal 2027 Looking now at Australia, the work underway represents a critical first step in our multi-year plan to deliver an attractive return on investment over time, and we are pleased with progress so far. looking now at australia the work underway represents a critical first step in our multi-year plan to deliver an attractive return on investment over time and we are pleased with progress so far From a financial performance perspective, results are tracking in line with our expectations, which remain unchanged for the full year. from a financial performance perspective results are tracking in line with our expectations which remain unchanged for the full year We continue to anticipate the merchandise changeover to lower-priced items, as well as the pace at which these new products are introduced to weigh on sales in fiscal 2027. We anticipate that impact to be more pronounced in the second and third quarter of fiscal year as we accelerate the pace of the transition to lower priced SKUs. Capital expenditures related to store renovations and new store openings, as well as expenses related to the deployment of operational initiatives, are also tracking according to plan. We continue to anticipate the merchandise changeover to lower-priced items, as well as the pace at which these new products are introduced to weigh on sales in fiscal 2027. We anticipate that impact to be more pronounced in the second and third quarter of fiscal year as we accelerate the pace of the transition to lower priced SKUs. we continue to anticipate the merchandise changeover to lower-priced items as well as the pace at which these new products are introduced to weigh on sales in fiscal 2027. we anticipate that impact to be more pronounced in the second and third quarter of fiscal year as we accelerate the pace of the transition to lower priced skus Capital expenditures related to store renovations and new store openings, as well as expenses related to the deployment of operational initiatives, are also tracking according to plan. capital expenditures related to store renovations and new store openings as well as expenses related to the deployment of operational initiatives are also tracking according to plan As a reminder, we expect to renovate 60-80 stores and to open 15-25 net new stores in fiscal 2027. As we invest in our growth priorities in Canada and the transformation of our business in Australia, we also continued to deploy excess cash to create immediate shareholder value. During the quarter, we were active on share repurchases. We bought back nearly 2 million common shares for cancellation under our NCIB program for a total consideration of CAD 339.1 million. As a reminder, we expect to renovate 60- 80 stores and to open 15- 25 net new stores in fiscal 2027. as a reminder we expect to renovate 60- 80 stores and to open 15- 25 net new stores in fiscal 2027 As we invest in our growth priorities in Canada and the transformation of our business in Australia, we also continued to deploy excess cash to create immediate shareholder value. as we invest in our growth priorities in canada and the transformation of our business in australia we also continued to deploy excess cash to create immediate shareholder value During the quarter, we were active on share repurchases. during the quarter we were active on share repurchases We bought back nearly 2 million common shares for cancellation under our NCIB program for a total consideration of CAD 339.1 million. we bought back nearly 2 million common shares for cancellation under our ncib program for a total consideration of cad 339.1 million We also announced today that the board approved a quarterly cash dividend of CAD 0.12 per share. Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our expectations across our markets remain broadly unchanged, and our priorities are clear as we move towards the second half of the year. The fundamentals of our business are strong. Our value proposition continues to resonate with consumers, and we believe we have the tools and flexibility to help mitigate some of the external pressures we are seeing today. We also announced today that the board approved a quarterly cash dividend of CAD 0.12 per share. we also announced today that the board approved a quarterly cash dividend of cad 0.12 per share Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our expectations across our markets remain broadly unchanged, and our priorities are clear as we move towards the second half of the year. despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment our expectations across our markets remain broadly unchanged and our priorities are clear as we move towards the second half of the year The fundamentals of our business are strong. the fundamentals of our business are strong Our value proposition continues to resonate with consumers, and we believe we have the tools and flexibility to help mitigate some of the external pressures we are seeing today. our value proposition continues to resonate with consumers and we believe we have the tools and flexibility to help mitigate some of the external pressures we are seeing today We will continue to focus on the disciplined execution of our priorities in all markets, serving customers with value and convenience, and deploying capital in a manner that supports long-term shareholder value creation. With that, I'll now turn the call back to the operator for the Q&A. We will continue to focus on the disciplined execution of our priorities in all markets, serving customers with value and convenience, and deploying capital in a manner that supports long-term shareholder value creation. we will continue to focus on the disciplined execution of our priorities in all markets serving customers with value and convenience and deploying capital in a manner that supports long-term shareholder value creation With that, I'll now turn the call back to the operator for the Q&A. with that i'll now turn the call back to the operator for the q&a

Speaker 12: Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question each. Our first question comes from the line of Irene Nattel from RBC Capital Markets. Your question, please. Certainly. certainly Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question each. ladies and gentlemen we ask that you please limit yourself to one question each Our first question comes from the line of Irene Nattel from RBC Capital Markets. our first question comes from the line of irene nattel from rbc capital markets Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 5: Thanks. Good morning, everyone. Great to see the same-store sales recovering in Q1. Can you give us some more color, Neil or Patrick, just on the cadence of sales, what people are buying, obviously poor weather, how did that impact, and if you can, what we've seen Q2 to date, again, recognizing that weather just wasn't our friend. Thanks. thanks Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone Great to see the same-store sales recovering in Q1. great to see the same-store sales recovering in q1 Can you give us some more color, Neil or Patrick, just on the cadence of sales, what people are buying, obviously poor weather, how did that impact, and if you can, what we've seen Q2 to date, again, recognizing that weather just wasn't our friend. can you give us some more color neil or patrick just on the cadence of sales what people are buying obviously poor weather how did that impact and if you can what we've seen q2 to date again recognizing that weather just wasn't our friend

Speaker 13: Yeah, look, I could maybe comment more specifically about Q1. I think in Q1, we saw fairly consistent trends throughout the quarter, including as we exited the quarter. There appears to have been some strength, some pent-up demand in the front end, after a softer Q4. As we moved through the quarter, like other retailers, there was some variability in the back end due to the late arrival of spring and summer. Yeah, look, I could maybe comment more specifically about Q1. yeah look i could maybe comment more specifically about q1 I think in Q1, we saw fairly consistent trends throughout the quarter, including as we exited the quarter. i think in q1 we saw fairly consistent trends throughout the quarter including as we exited the quarter There appears to have been some strength, some pent-up demand in the front end, after a softer Q4. there appears to have been some strength some pent-up demand in the front end after a softer q4 As we moved through the quarter, like other retailers, there was some variability in the back end due to the late arrival of spring and summer. as we moved through the quarter like other retailers there was some variability in the back end due to the late arrival of spring and summer

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Brian Morrison from TD. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Brian Morrison from TD. our next question comes from the line of brian morrison from td Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 1: I want to ask a question on Australia, maybe, Neil. I appreciate the details you gave, but help me understand the progression of store renovation to your format, to merchandising the store, to putting it under a Dollarama banner. I heard the renovation totals and targets, but did you say half of your imported product will be here by year-end? The question I have is, when will there be sufficient imported merchandise to call a store one of your own? Will the new merchandise not be placed in the store until the renovation's complete? I want to ask a question on Australia, maybe, Neil. i want to ask a question on australia maybe neil I appreciate the details you gave, but help me understand the progression of store renovation to your format, to merchandising the store, to putting it under a Dollarama banner. i appreciate the details you gave but help me understand the progression of store renovation to your format to merchandising the store to putting it under a dollarama banner I heard the renovation totals and targets, but did you say half of your imported product will be here by year-end? i heard the renovation totals and targets but did you say half of your imported product will be here by year-end The question I have is, when will there be sufficient imported merchandise to call a store one of your own? the question i have is when will there be sufficient imported merchandise to call a store one of your own Will the new merchandise not be placed in the store until the renovation's complete? will the new merchandise not be placed in the store until the renovation's complete I know it's early, but you stated initial positive reception to the merchandise. What makes you say that? I know it's early, but you stated initial positive reception to the merchandise. i know it's early but you stated initial positive reception to the merchandise What makes you say that? what makes you say that

Speaker 11: Thank you, Brian. Our goal is to renovate 400 stores over the next four years, averaging 100 stores a year. In Q1, so far, we've renovated 13 this year. Our goal is to renovate between 60 and 80. By the end of the year, we should have about half of our imported SKUs in the stores, as you mentioned, and that will continue to trickle in as time goes on in a very linear fashion. From the perspective of rebannering, we will never rebanner a store until it has been renovated or unless it's a new store. Thank you, Brian. thank you brian Our goal is to renovate 400 stores over the next four years, averaging 100 stores a year. our goal is to renovate 400 stores over the next four years averaging 100 stores a year In Q1, so far, we've renovated 13 this year. in q1 so far we've renovated 13 this year Our goal is to renovate between 60 and 80. our goal is to renovate between 60 and 80 By the end of the year, we should have about half of our imported SKUs in the stores, as you mentioned, and that will continue to trickle in as time goes on in a very linear fashion. by the end of the year we should have about half of our imported skus in the stores as you mentioned and that will continue to trickle in as time goes on in a very linear fashion From the perspective of rebannering, we will never rebanner a store until it has been renovated or unless it's a new store. from the perspective of rebannering we will never rebanner a store until it has been renovated or unless it's a new store There's not going to be a specific SKU count that's going to trigger that. It's going to be more a question of management from Canada, honestly, since we have the experience, going to Australia and judging that the overall shop feels like the value that we're trying to portray is Dollarama value. There's not going to be a specific SKU count that's going to trigger that. there's not going to be a specific sku count that's going to trigger that It's going to be more a question of management from Canada, honestly, since we have the experience, going to Australia and judging that the overall shop feels like the value that we're trying to portray is Dollarama value. it's going to be more a question of management from canada honestly since we have the experience going to australia and judging that the overall shop feels like the value that we're trying to portray is dollarama value At that point, we will change the brand. As we're building out the new stores, we are building them out in our colors with the TRS branding so that the capital being spent is being spent in a strategic manner for the long term. For certain, it will not change until the shop feels like a Dollarama shop. At that point, we will change the brand. at that point we will change the brand As we're building out the new stores, we are building them out in our colors with the TRS branding so that the capital being spent is being spent in a strategic manner for the long term. as we're building out the new stores we are building them out in our colors with the trs branding so that the capital being spent is being spent in a strategic manner for the long term For certain, it will not change until the shop feels like a Dollarama shop. for certain it will not change until the shop feels like a dollarama shop

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Martin Landry from Stifel. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Martin Landry from Stifel. our next question comes from the line of martin landry from stifel Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 10: Hi, good morning. In Canada, I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about your product offering. Is there any categories that you've added recently that are doing well? Can you talk about maybe two categories of interest, pet and toys, to see how these categories are doing for you guys? Hi, good morning. hi good morning In Canada, I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about your product offering. in canada i was wondering if you can talk a little bit about your product offering Is there any categories that you've added recently that are doing well? is there any categories that you've added recently that are doing well Can you talk about maybe two categories of interest, pet and toys, to see how these categories are doing for you guys? can you talk about maybe two categories of interest pet and toys to see how these categories are doing for you guys

Speaker 11: Sure. No, there hasn't been any new categories added to the store. The existing categories flex over time, depending on the interest of the customer. When there are trends in the toy industry that make toys hot, we tend to buy more toys. When crafting is experiencing a trend, we tend to have more craft items in the store. As retailers, within the limits of our fixed price points, we're always trying to offer as much as we can in the categories that are hottest. Sure. sure No, there hasn't been any new categories added to the store. no there hasn't been any new categories added to the store The existing categories flex over time, depending on the interest of the customer. the existing categories flex over time depending on the interest of the customer When there are trends in the toy industry that make toys hot, we tend to buy more toys. when there are trends in the toy industry that make toys hot we tend to buy more toys When crafting is experiencing a trend, we tend to have more craft items in the store. when crafting is experiencing a trend we tend to have more craft items in the store As retailers, within the limits of our fixed price points, we're always trying to offer as much as we can in the categories that are hottest. as retailers within the limits of our fixed price points we're always trying to offer as much as we can in the categories that are hottest Toys happens to be quite hot right now, with a few trends going on, and for certain, that's helping the toy section of our store perform. Toys happens to be quite hot right now, with a few trends going on, and for certain, that's helping the toy section of our store perform. toys happens to be quite hot right now with a few trends going on and for certain that's helping the toy section of our store perform

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes to the line of Chris Li from Desjardins. Your question please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes to the line of Chris Li from Desjardins. our next question comes to the line of chris li from desjardins Your question please. your question please

Speaker 2: Good morning, everyone. Sorry if I missed this earlier, Patrick, can you elaborate on the drivers of the lower logistics costs that help margins during the quarter, and then sort of what are the main puts and takes for the rest of the year as we think about the gross margin? Thanks. Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone Sorry if I missed this earlier, Patrick, can you elaborate on the drivers of the lower logistics costs that help margins during the quarter, and then sort of what are the main puts and takes for the rest of the year as we think about the gross margin? sorry if i missed this earlier patrick can you elaborate on the drivers of the lower logistics costs that help margins during the quarter and then sort of what are the main puts and takes for the rest of the year as we think about the gross margin Thanks. thanks

Speaker 13: In terms of logistics, we clearly benefited from scaling of having a 5.6% SSS. From a logistics standpoint, it was a smooth quarter. We did not incur any friction or detention costs that we would normally incur in a normal quarter. I would like to point out that when we talk about the impacts of higher fuel, none of that actually impacted the first quarter. These costs are to be expected later on in the year and specifically, in the second half of the year. That being said, for the time being, we're maintaining the guidance, the 45%-45.5%. We do assume that the conflict will end soon and that fuel prices will normalize in short order. In terms of logistics, we clearly benefited from scaling of having a 5.6% SSS. in terms of logistics we clearly benefited from scaling of having a 5.6% sss From a logistics standpoint, it was a smooth quarter. from a logistics standpoint it was a smooth quarter We did not incur any friction or detention costs that we would normally incur in a normal quarter. we did not incur any friction or detention costs that we would normally incur in a normal quarter I would like to point out that when we talk about the impacts of higher fuel, none of that actually impacted the first quarter. i would like to point out that when we talk about the impacts of higher fuel none of that actually impacted the first quarter These costs are to be expected later on in the year and specifically, in the second half of the year. these costs are to be expected later on in the year and specifically in the second half of the year That being said, for the time being, we're maintaining the guidance, the 45%-45.5%. that being said for the time being we're maintaining the guidance the 45%-45.5% We do assume that the conflict will end soon and that fuel prices will normalize in short order. we do assume that the conflict will end soon and that fuel prices will normalize in short order

Speaker 12: Thank you. Now our next question comes from the line of Zhihan Ma from Bernstein. Your question please. Thank you. thank you Now our next question comes from the line of Zhihan Ma from Bernstein. now our next question comes from the line of zhihan ma from bernstein Your question please. your question please

Speaker 15: Hi, thank you. Back on the Australia side of things, could you talk about the timeline of when some of the TRS assortments are being retired and when you're introducing the new assortment? Is there gonna be some sort of a gap in between that may impact sales this year? Broadly speaking, how are you getting the words out to the Australian consumers? Are you gonna have marketing campaigns or this is gonna be more of a word of mouth? Thank you. Hi, thank you. hi thank you Back on the Australia side of things, could you talk about the timeline of when some of the TRS assortments are being retired and when you're introducing the new assortment? back on the australia side of things could you talk about the timeline of when some of the trs assortments are being retired and when you're introducing the new assortment Is there gonna be some sort of a gap in between that may impact sales this year? is there gonna be some sort of a gap in between that may impact sales this year Broadly speaking, how are you getting the words out to the Australian consumers? broadly speaking how are you getting the words out to the australian consumers Are you gonna have marketing campaigns or this is gonna be more of a word of mouth? are you gonna have marketing campaigns or this is gonna be more of a word of mouth Thank you. thank you

Speaker 11: The transition from TRS goods to Dollarama goods is a progressive transition. For example, I'll use a very specific example. If we bring in five new sponge SKUs in the cleaning department, as we see the timing of those SKUs arriving into Australia, we'll know how many months of inventory we have of the, for example, five existing TRS sponge SKUs, and we'll have sold down our inventory levels so that the transition doesn't lead to gaps, but also doesn't lead to excess inventory. The transition from TRS goods to Dollarama goods is a progressive transition. the transition from trs goods to dollarama goods is a progressive transition For example, I'll use a very specific example. for example i'll use a very specific example If we bring in five new sponge SKUs in the cleaning department, as we see the timing of those SKUs arriving into Australia, we'll know how many months of inventory we have of the, for example, five existing TRS sponge SKUs, and we'll have sold down our inventory levels so that the transition doesn't lead to gaps, but also doesn't lead to excess inventory. if we bring in five new sponge skus in the cleaning department as we see the timing of those skus arriving into australia we'll know how many months of inventory we have of the for example five existing trs sponge skus and we'll have sold down our inventory levels so that the transition doesn't lead to gaps but also doesn't lead to excess inventory Timing it perfectly never works, of course, but give or take, you're trying to do a transition that's manageable at store level and inventory level. Timing it perfectly never works, of course, but give or take, you're trying to do a transition that's manageable at store level and inventory level. timing it perfectly never works of course but give or take you're trying to do a transition that's manageable at store level and inventory level

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Petrie from CIBC Capital Markets. Your question please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Mark Petrie from CIBC Capital Markets. our next question comes from the line of mark petrie from cibc capital markets Your question please. your question please

Speaker 9: Yeah, thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask about Dollarcity. Just curious if you could give some color on what looks like a strong same-store sales performance in LATAM. With regards to Mexico, wondering how you think we should look at sort of no new stores in Q1. I think you said you open two early in Q2. Also just an update maybe on how those Mexico stores are performing. Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Good morning. good morning I wanted to ask about Dollarcity. i wanted to ask about dollarcity Just curious if you could give some color on what looks like a strong same-store sales performance in LATAM. just curious if you could give some color on what looks like a strong same-store sales performance in latam With regards to Mexico, wondering how you think we should look at sort of no new stores in Q1. with regards to mexico wondering how you think we should look at sort of no new stores in q1 I think you said you open two early in Q2. i think you said you open two early in q2 Also just an update maybe on how those Mexico stores are performing. also just an update maybe on how those mexico stores are performing

Speaker 13: Yeah. Thanks for the question. Look, LATAM, yes, the business continues to perform well. It's very similar trends that we're seeing here in Canada. We're quite happy with the progress of the business in Latin America. Mexico, at the end of the quarter, we were at 11 stores. It's just the way how the pipeline worked. We were very happy to pull forward a few stores into the end of last year. We're happy to see the progression and as Neil mentioned in his prepared remarks, we've already opened another two stores, so we're at 13 and a few others to come. Yeah. yeah Thanks for the question. thanks for the question Look, LATAM, yes, the business continues to perform well. look latam yes the business continues to perform well It's very similar trends that we're seeing here in Canada. it's very similar trends that we're seeing here in canada We're quite happy with the progress of the business in Latin America. we're quite happy with the progress of the business in latin america Mexico, at the end of the quarter, we were at 11 stores. mexico at the end of the quarter we were at 11 stores It's just the way how the pipeline worked. it's just the way how the pipeline worked We were very happy to pull forward a few stores into the end of last year. we were very happy to pull forward a few stores into the end of last year We're happy to see the progression and as Neil mentioned in his prepared remarks, we've already opened another two stores, so we're at 13 and a few others to come. we're happy to see the progression and as neil mentioned in his prepared remarks we've already opened another two stores so we're at 13 and a few others to come

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of John Zamparo from Scotiabank. Your question please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of John Zamparo from Scotiabank. our next question comes from the line of john zamparo from scotiabank Your question please. your question please

Speaker 6: Thanks very much. Good morning. I wanted to ask about cost of goods inflation and in particular, inflation in China has accelerated fairly quickly. I wonder what you're seeing on your end, and does that make you want to accelerate or revisit your product refresh rate, or do you need to get more creative with your suppliers on how to navigate within your CAD 5 price limit? Any color on that would be helpful. Thank you. Thanks very much. thanks very much Good morning. good morning I wanted to ask about cost of goods inflation and in particular, inflation in China has accelerated fairly quickly. i wanted to ask about cost of goods inflation and in particular inflation in china has accelerated fairly quickly I wonder what you're seeing on your end, and does that make you want to accelerate or revisit your product refresh rate, or do you need to get more creative with your suppliers on how to navigate within your CAD 5 price limit? i wonder what you're seeing on your end and does that make you want to accelerate or revisit your product refresh rate or do you need to get more creative with your suppliers on how to navigate within your cad 5 price limit Any color on that would be helpful. any color on that would be helpful Thank you. thank you

Speaker 11: Sure. There's no question that there's pressure on pricing in China, especially in the plastics. The heavier and larger the item, the more plastic there is, the greater the impact on that item. Much like during COVID, where freight rates were astronomical and we parked a few items, we are parking some very large, high cube plastic items. That's really extreme as a case. Sure. sure There's no question that there's pressure on pricing in China, especially in the plastics. there's no question that there's pressure on pricing in china especially in the plastics The heavier and larger the item, the more plastic there is, the greater the impact on that item. the heavier and larger the item the more plastic there is the greater the impact on that item Much like during COVID, where freight rates were astronomical and we parked a few items, we are parking some very large, high cube plastic items. much like during covid where freight rates were astronomical and we parked a few items we are parking some very large high cube plastic items That's really extreme as a case. that's really extreme as a case In general, we're using our ability as importers to always change the mix throughout the whole year for a multitude of different reasons, to provide a mix that hits the margin percentages we're hoping to achieve, while of course always keeping the best relative value to the market that we can provide our consumers. In general, we're using our ability as importers to always change the mix throughout the whole year for a multitude of different reasons, to provide a mix that hits the margin percentages we're hoping to achieve, while of course always keeping the best relative value to the market that we can provide our consumers. in general, we're using our ability as importers to always change the mix throughout the whole year for a multitude of different reasons to provide a mix that hits the margin percentages we're hoping to achieve while of course always keeping the best relative value to the market that we can provide our consumers

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Vishal Shreedhar from National Bank Financial. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Vishal Shreedhar from National Bank Financial. our next question comes from the line of vishal shreedhar from national bank financial Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 14: Hi. Thanks for taking my question. With respect to the same-store sales growth that you saw in Canada, could you give us a sense of, has inflation in that actual comp accelerated? Is that due to product inflation from your suppliers, or is that due to Dollarama creating a mix shift within its basket by allocating more items to higher price points? Hi. hi Thanks for taking my question. thanks for taking my question With respect to the same-store sales growth that you saw in Canada, could you give us a sense of, has inflation in that actual comp accelerated? with respect to the same-store sales growth that you saw in canada could you give us a sense of has inflation in that actual comp accelerated Is that due to product inflation from your suppliers, or is that due to Dollarama creating a mix shift within its basket by allocating more items to higher price points? is that due to product inflation from your suppliers or is that due to dollarama creating a mix shift within its basket by allocating more items to higher price points

Speaker 13: Yeah. If you recall, towards the end of last year, there were some price increases on the domestic side, which led us to increase pricing as well. What you see in the SSS is a carry forward from those price increases from last year, you could assume that those price increases at the end of last year should tail off as we advance throughout the year. Yeah. yeah If you recall, towards the end of last year, there were some price increases on the domestic side, which led us to increase pricing as well. if you recall towards the end of last year there were some price increases on the domestic side which led us to increase pricing as well What you see in the SSS is a carry forward from those price increases from last year, you could assume that those price increases at the end of last year should tail off as we advance throughout the year. what you see in the sss is a carry forward from those price increases from last year you could assume that those price increases at the end of last year should tail off as we advance throughout the year

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Edward Kelly from Wells Fargo. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Edward Kelly from Wells Fargo. our next question comes from the line of edward kelly from wells fargo Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 4: Hi. Good morning, everyone. A nice quarter, and thanks for taking the question. I wanted to circle back on Australia and how we should be thinking about the impact of all the investments that are being made this year in the business. The Q1 gross margin at 34.4% looks a little bit on the low side versus sort of what we saw the rest of the year. I'm just kind of curious, Patrick, how much gross margin pressure you might see from here? The investment that you talked about last quarter, is that still the right number? Hi. hi Good morning, everyone. good morning everyone A nice quarter, and thanks for taking the question. a nice quarter and thanks for taking the question I wanted to circle back on Australia and how we should be thinking about the impact of all the investments that are being made this year in the business. i wanted to circle back on australia and how we should be thinking about the impact of all the investments that are being made this year in the business The Q1 gross margin at 34.4% looks a little bit on the low side versus sort of what we saw the rest of the year. the q1 gross margin at 34.4% looks a little bit on the low side versus sort of what we saw the rest of the year I'm just kind of curious, Patrick, how much gross margin pressure you might see from here? i'm just kind of curious patrick how much gross margin pressure you might see from here The investment that you talked about last quarter, is that still the right number? the investment that you talked about last quarter is that still the right number As it pertains to the loss that the business might see, it's not hard to get yourself in the neighborhood of like CAD 55 million-CAD 60 million, something like that, or more. I'm just curious, is that ballpark? Thank you. As it pertains to the loss that the business might see, it's not hard to get yourself in the neighborhood of like CAD 55 million-CAD 60 million, something like that, or more. as it pertains to the loss that the business might see it's not hard to get yourself in the neighborhood of like cad 55 million-cad 60 million something like that or more I'm just curious, is that ballpark? i'm just curious is that ballpark Thank you. thank you

Speaker 13: Yeah. I would say, all the comments with respect to how we're thinking about the forecast in Australia that we presented last quarter, nothing has changed. As we completed Q1, we're exactly on that plan. If we go back to the commentary about the three pillars, all of that remains the same, and we're happy that we're tracking exactly on plan. Yeah. yeah I would say, all the comments with respect to how we're thinking about the forecast in Australia that we presented last quarter, nothing has changed. i would say all the comments with respect to how we're thinking about the forecast in australia that we presented last quarter nothing has changed As we completed Q1, we're exactly on that plan. as we completed q1 we're exactly on that plan If we go back to the commentary about the three pillars, all of that remains the same, and we're happy that we're tracking exactly on plan. if we go back to the commentary about the three pillars all of that remains the same and we're happy that we're tracking exactly on plan

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Carden from UBS. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Mark Carden from UBS. our next question comes from the line of mark carden from ubs Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 8: Good morning. Thanks so much for taking the question. I want to circle back on the supply chain. You guys called out the higher costs resulting from the conflict, factoring in a resolution in the near term. If the conflict did persist, though, over the course of the next few quarters, how much of an impact could it have on your margin structure as those pressures ramp up in the second half of the year? Just how should we think about the sensitivity there? Thanks. Good morning. good morning Thanks so much for taking the question. thanks so much for taking the question I want to circle back on the supply chain. i want to circle back on the supply chain You guys called out the higher costs resulting from the conflict, factoring in a resolution in the near term. you guys called out the higher costs resulting from the conflict factoring in a resolution in the near term If the conflict did persist, though, over the course of the next few quarters, how much of an impact could it have on your margin structure as those pressures ramp up in the second half of the year? if the conflict did persist though over the course of the next few quarters how much of an impact could it have on your margin structure as those pressures ramp up in the second half of the year Just how should we think about the sensitivity there? just how should we think about the sensitivity there Thanks. thanks

Speaker 13: Yeah. That's a really tough one. Who knows what the price of fuel and the impact on the cost of products will be. The only thing that we could say is that after Q1, it certainly dragged on longer than we had initially anticipated. That being said, we've kept the margin at 45%-45.5%. We're comfortable reiterating that guidance with the assumption that things will resolve themselves in short order. Yeah. yeah That's a really tough one. that's a really tough one Who knows what the price of fuel and the impact on the cost of products will be. who knows what the price of fuel and the impact on the cost of products will be The only thing that we could say is that after Q1, it certainly dragged on longer than we had initially anticipated. the only thing that we could say is that after q1 it certainly dragged on longer than we had initially anticipated That being said, we've kept the margin at 45%-45.5%. that being said we've kept the margin at 45%-45.5% We're comfortable reiterating that guidance with the assumption that things will resolve themselves in short order. we're comfortable reiterating that guidance with the assumption that things will resolve themselves in short order Certainly, if the conflict and fuel prices increase and drag on for a much longer period, while at that point, we may need to revise our assumptions. If things calm down very quickly, we feel comfortable reaffirming that guidance on the gross margin. Certainly, if the conflict and fuel prices increase and drag on for a much longer period, while at that point, we may need to revise our assumptions. certainly if the conflict and fuel prices increase and drag on for a much longer period while at that point we may need to revise our assumptions If things calm down very quickly, we feel comfortable reaffirming that guidance on the gross margin. if things calm down very quickly we feel comfortable reaffirming that guidance on the gross margin

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe from Jefferies. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Corey Tarlowe from Jefferies. our next question comes from the line of corey tarlowe from jefferies Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 3: Great, thanks. Patrick, I wanted to ask on the outlook, is there any consideration around any change in the leverage point? The reason I ask is that your SG&A guide on a 3%-4% comp embeds both leverage and deleverage, I'm wondering what the swing factors are or drivers to get from one end to the other. Thanks so much. Great, thanks. great thanks Patrick, I wanted to ask on the outlook, is there any consideration around any change in the leverage point? patrick i wanted to ask on the outlook is there any consideration around any change in the leverage point The reason I ask is that your SG&A guide on a 3%-4% comp embeds both leverage and deleverage, I'm wondering what the swing factors are or drivers to get from one end to the other. the reason i ask is that your sg&a guide on a 3%-4% comp embeds both leverage and deleverage i'm wondering what the swing factors are or drivers to get from one end to the other Thanks so much. thanks so much

Speaker 13: Yeah. Leveraging SG&A is truthfully a greater challenge in the business. We feel that a lot of the material improvements that we've done in the business, a lot of it is more behind us than ahead of us. We always remind people that continuing to improve on that SG&A remains a challenge for us. There's certain line items that are increasing at a very high rate. You think at funding recycling programs, a good example of line items that are increasing quite materially year-over-year. Yeah. yeah Leveraging SG&A is truthfully a greater challenge in the business. leveraging sg&a is truthfully a greater challenge in the business We feel that a lot of the material improvements that we've done in the business, a lot of it is more behind us than ahead of us. we feel that a lot of the material improvements that we've done in the business a lot of it is more behind us than ahead of us We always remind people that continuing to improve on that SG&A remains a challenge for us. we always remind people that continuing to improve on that sg&a remains a challenge for us There's certain line items that are increasing at a very high rate. there's certain line items that are increasing at a very high rate You think at funding recycling programs, a good example of line items that are increasing quite materially year-over-year. you think at funding recycling programs a good example of line items that are increasing quite materially year-over-year When you look at the balance of the year and what we had planned when we provided our guidance is that, to the extent that we could achieve same-store sales within that range, there should be some incremental leverage in the business, but then again, not to expect any material improvements on that end. When you look at the balance of the year and what we had planned when we provided our guidance is that, to the extent that we could achieve same-store sales within that range, there should be some incremental leverage in the business, but then again, not to expect any material improvements on that end. when you look at the balance of the year and what we had planned when we provided our guidance is that to the extent that we could achieve same-store sales within that range there should be some incremental leverage in the business but then again not to expect any material improvements on that end

Speaker 12: Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Luke Hannan from Canaccord Genuity. Your question, please. Thank you. thank you Our next question comes from the line of Luke Hannan from Canaccord Genuity. our next question comes from the line of luke hannan from canaccord genuity Your question, please. your question please

Speaker 7: Yeah, thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask about the competitive environment as it relates to the three jurisdictions that you participate in, and then more specifically, whether or not the price gaps relative to what you view as your closest competitors in those markets, whether those have changed materially over the course of the quarter. Thanks. Yeah, thanks. yeah thanks Good morning. good morning I wanted to ask about the competitive environment as it relates to the three jurisdictions that you participate in, and then more specifically, whether or not the price gaps relative to what you view as your closest competitors in those markets, whether those have changed materially over the course of the quarter. i wanted to ask about the competitive environment as it relates to the three jurisdictions that you participate in and then more specifically whether or not the price gaps relative to what you view as your closest competitors in those markets whether those have changed materially over the course of the quarter Thanks. thanks

Speaker 11: They haven't changed by a margin worth discussing. Certainly, each market has a different competitive set and a competitive situation. In Canada, I should say in every market, we consider everybody competition, of course. As you would expect, there are stronger competitors that we focus on in each market. The Australian market is a very competitive market at this point in time. It was less so a couple of years ago. We've seen that in Canada, we've seen it now in our Central and South American operation. They haven't changed by a margin worth discussing. they haven't changed by a margin worth discussing Certainly, each market has a different competitive set and a competitive situation. certainly each market has a different competitive set and a competitive situation In Canada, I should say in every market, we consider everybody competition, of course. in canada i should say in every market we consider everybody competition of course As you would expect, there are stronger competitors that we focus on in each market. as you would expect there are stronger competitors that we focus on in each market The Australian market is a very competitive market at this point in time. the australian market is a very competitive market at this point in time It was less so a couple of years ago. it was less so a couple of years ago We've seen that in Canada, we've seen it now in our Central and South American operation. we've seen that in canada we've seen it now in our central and south american operation It comes in waves, the level of competitiveness goes up and goes down over the course of time for different reasons, of course. I would say consistently, our job, regardless of all of that, is to ensure that in each market, our relative value is the best, and that our execution at store level is on par or better than everybody else's, and that a customer who comes to a Dollarama sees great relative value in a nice, clean shopping environment, in a very convenient-sized shop, and as close to their house as possible over the course of time. It comes in waves, the level of competitiveness goes up and goes down over the course of time for different reasons, of course. it comes in waves the level of competitiveness goes up and goes down over the course of time for different reasons of course I would say consistently, our job, regardless of all of that, is to ensure that in each market, our relative value is the best, and that our execution at store level is on par or better than everybody else's, and that a customer who comes to a Dollarama sees great relative value in a nice, clean shopping environment, in a very convenient-sized shop, and as close to their house as possible over the course of time. i would say consistently our job regardless of all of that is to ensure that in each market our relative value is the best and that our execution at store level is on par or better than everybody else's and that a customer who comes to a dollarama sees great relative value in a nice clean shopping environment in a very convenient-sized shop and as close to their house as possible over the course of time That's what we remain focused on. Of course, to do that, we have to keep an eye on all of the competition in every one of the three countries or regions we're in, and that will be the case forever. That's what we remain focused on. that's what we remain focused on Of course, to do that, we have to keep an eye on all of the competition in every one of the three countries or regions we're in, and that will be the case forever. of course to do that we have to keep an eye on all of the competition in every one of the three countries or regions we're in and that will be the case forever

Speaker 12: Thank you. This does conclude the question and answer session, as well as today's program. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation. You may now disconnect. Good day. Thank you. thank you This does conclude the question and answer session, as well as today's program. this does conclude the question and answer session as well as today's program Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation. thank you ladies and gentlemen for your participation You may now disconnect. you may now disconnect Good day. good day