By The Canadian Press on June 13, 2025
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Stock news for investors: Dollarama, Transat and Roots release earnings

By The Canadian Press on June 13, 2025
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Dollarama reports increases in profits and sales, Transat deals with Canadian travellers avoiding the U.S., and Roots sees Q1 loss despite improving customer experience.

Here’s a round-up of news for Canadian investors this week.

Dollarama
Transat
Roots

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Dollarama Q1 profits and sales up

Dollarama (TSX:DOL)

Here are the umbers for its first quarter of 2025.

Profit: $273.8 million (up from $215.8 million a year ago)
Sales: $1.52 billion (up from $1.41 billion)

Dollarama Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $273.8 million, up from $215.8 million a year earlier, as its sales rose 8.2%.

The retailer says its profit amounted to $0.98 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended May 4, up from $0.77 per diluted share a year earlier. Excluding an unrealized gain from a derivative on equity-accounted investment, Dollarama says it would have earned $0.95 per diluted share in its most recent quarter.

Sales for the quarter totalled $1.52 billion, up from $1.41 billion in the same quarter last year. The increase came as comparable store sales for the quarter increased by 4.9%, including a 3.7% increase in the number of transactions and a 1.2% increase in average transaction size.

Dollarama says the growth was primarily driven by strong demand for consumables, while also benefiting from its seasonal offerings.

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Transat bets on Caribbean and Europe as travellers spurn U.S.

Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX: TRZ)

Losses: $22.9 million (down from $54.4 million in Q2 2024)

Transat A.T. Inc. hopes to turn Canadians’ aversion to U.S. travel into a boon as it bets on new routes to the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe rather than destinations in the land of Donald Trump.

Canadian travel habits are changing

Chief executive Annick Guérard made the case Thursday for a winter schedule that includes fresh flights between Toronto and Guyana, Fredericton and Cancun, Mexico, and Quebec City and Martinique.

“We are taking advantage of the shift in demand from the U.S. to the Caribbean and Mexican markets by offering new exclusive routes,” Guérard told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company’s latest results.

As Canadians turn away from their southern neighbour amid a trade war and “51st state” threats from the U.S. president, they’ve looked also to Europe for sun-splashed getaways.

New routes and destinations—but does that equal profit?

Air Transat will extend routes to the port cities of Bordeaux, France, and Valencia, Spain, into the winter, the CEO said, while steering clear of the U.S. except for a handful of routes.

The number of Air Transat flights slated to take off from Canada to the U.S. this December is down 13% year-over-year, according to aviation data firm Cirium. This month, the figure is down 36% compared with June 2024.

Whether Air Transat’s new routes will turn a profit remains to be seen.

Transat’s latest earnings report

In its latest quarter, Transat, which owns the airline, reported losses of $22.9 million, though the hit marked a major improvement from its $54.4-million loss in the same period a year earlier.

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Challenges for the airline

Several hurdles now confront the carrier, including competition, frugal customers and a diminished fleet.

“We’ve seen a little bit of shift as well from some players on the European destinations, creating downward pressure on pricing for this upcoming summer,” Guérard said, noting that Air Transat is not the only airline to ramp up transatlantic trips.

“Looking at the past weeks, we can see that bookings have been soft in Europe. With the uncertainty in the market—the economic environment—this is a little bit what we were expecting.”

Some of that downturn owes to more last-minute booking trends.

“People tend to wait and see what’s going to happen—if people are going to keep their jobs, how the economy is going to move forward.”

Equipment recalls a challenge

Transat also continues to deal with fallout from the recall of turbofans for inspection and repair by enginemaker Pratt & Whitney. Air Transat, one of many airlines hit by the recall, has grounded at least a half-dozen planes as a result.

Guérard said she expects six or seven jets—up to 16% of the 43-plane fleet—to remain out of commission through the year.

“We don’t think that this situation will be settled before 2027,” chief financial officer Jean-François Pruneau said.

On the plus side, Pratt & Whitney paid Transat $20 million in compensation in its second quarter.

Despite notching a loss, the company boosted year-over-year revenues by 6% to $1.03 billion in the three months ended April 30.

Guérard said higher revenue per seat, lower fuel expenses, tight cost control and the compensation from Pratt and Whitney helped it come closer to breaking even.

The Montreal-based company also increased adjusted net earnings to 12 cents per share in the quarter versus a loss of $1.21 per share a year earlier. The outcome soared above analysts’ expectations of a loss of 92 cents per share, according to financial markets firm LSEG Data & Analytics.

Last week, Transat announced a deal to reduce its total debt with a federal Crown corporation by more than half to $334 million. Most of that reduction is due to about $380 million of debt forgiven under the agreement in principle.

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Roots not seeing “pullback” in consumer spending as retailer reports $7.9M Q1 loss

Roots Corp (TSE: ROOT)

Losses: $7.9 million ($8.9 million loss last year)

Consumers grappling with a global tariff war have yet to drop Roots Corp. from their shopping trips, the apparel retailer’s CEO said Friday, as Roots reported a $7.9 million loss. “We haven’t seen any weakening and no pullback,” Meghan Roach told analysts who asked her whether consumer confidence has been lagging or if customers were trading down for more affordable products.

Sales up at Roots

Roach’s observation was reflected in the retailer’s first-quarter results, which showed sales at the Toronto-headquartered company rose 6.7% to $40 million. Much of the boost came from the company’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes its retail stores and e-commerce operations.

Sales from that division totalled $34.6 million for the period ended May 3, up from $31.4 million a year earlier. The segment also saw comparable sales growth of 14.1%. Roach attributed the increase to existing products resonating with customers who she said responded well to the company’s latest releases, too.

“We were also seeing strong adoption of updated cuts, which offer a modern take on comfort while staying true to the brand’s DNA,” she said. “This momentum in our core collection and the success of our new programs gives us confidence as we continue to balance innovation with the consistency your customers expect from us.”

Meanwhile, partner and other sales, which include wholesale Roots branded products, licensing to select partners and certain custom products, fell to $5.4 million, compared with $6.1 million in the same quarter last year.

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Changes at the retailer

This year, Roots has been working to close “underperforming” stores and reallocate resources to “high potential” locations where the brand is resonating and there are opportunities for traffic growth.

Customer feedback and in-store analytics have also pushed the company to give some stores a makeover that has introduced new layouts, digital tools and modern materials and finishes into flexible fixtures meant to help the brand transition between seasons.

“The goal is to create a more immersive, intuitive, and inspiring retail environment, one that aligns with our brand direction and deepens emotional connection with customers,” Roach said.

Losses, but not alarming this time of year

Overall, Roots reported a first-quarter loss of $7.9 million compared with a loss of $8.9 million a year earlier as its sales rose 6.7%.The loss amounted to $0.20 per share for the quarter compared with a loss of $0.22 per share in the same quarter last year.

The results fit Roots’ usual cadence, Roach said. Typically, the company generates 30% of its sales in the first half of the year, when it tends to generate a loss. The back half usually brings profit.

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