Dollarama Inc. reported a second-quarter profit of $193.5 million, up from $146.2 million in the same quarter last year, as sales rose 18.2 per cent.

The discount retailer says the profit amounted to 66 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31 compared with a profit of 48 cents per diluted share a year ago.

Sales for the three-month period totalled $1.22 billion, up from $1.03 billion a year earlier.

Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, gained 13.2 per cent as the number of transactions rose 20.2 per cent, but the average transaction size fell 5.8 per cent.

In its outlook, Dollarama says it expects to continue to benefit from strong demand as shoppers look to deal with inflation.

The retailer raised its comparable store sales growth assumption for its 2023 financial year to a range of 6.5 to 7.5 per cent compared with earlier expectations for between 4.0 and 5.0 per cent.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2022.