Dollarama raises full-year comparable-store sales forecast

(Reuters) - Canadian discount retailer Dollarama Inc's raised its full-year comparable-store sales forecast on Thursday, after reporting better-than-expected quarterly sales, benefiting from investments in its online business and higher demand for its products.

The Montreal-based company, whose products are priced between C$1 and C$4, has been trying to fend off competition from the likes of Walmart Inc's Canada unit and Dollar Tree and boost sales by keeping price hikes at a minimum.

"Customers are responding positively to our compelling product offering and various merchandising tactics, as demonstrated by our strong top line performance for a second consecutive quarter," Chief Executive Officer Neil Rossy said.

Dollarama, which offers everything from kitchen ware to clothing accessories, now expects full-year comparable-store sales growth in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% compared with the previous range of 3% to 4%.

The company's net income rose to C$143.2 million ($108.61 million), or 45 Canadian cents per share, in the second quarter, from C$140.4 million, or 42 Canadian cents, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected the company to post a profit of 46 Canadian cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Comparable-store sales rose 4.7% in the quarter ended Aug 4.

Sales rose to C$946.4 million from C$868.5 million.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)