Dollarama Inc. raised its quarterly dividend by nearly 30 per cent as it reported its fourth-quarter profit and sales rose compared with a year ago.

The retailer says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 9.2 cents per share, up from 7.08 cents per share.

The increased payment to shareholders came as Dollarama says it earned $323.8 million or $1.15 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 28.

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The result was up from a profit of $261.3 million or 91 cents per diluted share a year earlier.

Sales for the 13-week period totalled $1.64 billion, up from $1.47 billion a year earlier.

Comparable store sales rose 8.7 per cent as the number of transactions rose 11.2 per cent, but the average transaction size fell 2.2 per cent.