Larry Rossy handing off CEO's job at Dollarama to his son Neil, dividend rising

Dollarama is turning to the fourth generation of itsfounding family, with the son of the current chief executive about to take overas CEO of Canada's largest chain of discount stores.

Larry Rossy who has led the Montreal-based company through aperiod of rapid growth since it went public in October 2009 willcontinue as executive chairman, but his son Neil Rossy becomesDollarama's president and CEO on May 1.

"I'm excited to take the helm of a company that is part of myDNA," Neil, 46, said Wednesday during a conference call about thecompany's fourth-quarter and 2015 results.

I'm excited to take the helm of a company that is part of myDNA,- Neil Rossy, Dollarama'snewCEO as of May 1

Neil Rossy is currently Dollarama's chief merchandising officer.He's been with the company since Dollarama was created,and has been a member of its board of directors since 2004.

Larry Rossy, who transformed a family business to Dollarama'scurrent form in 1992, told analysts that his son is more than readyfor this opportunity.

"Over the years Neil has shown strong leadership as one of thearchitects of our success and has played a key role in thedevelopment of our unique business model."

The new CEO will oversee the company as it seeks to expand to1,400 stores across Canada. It currently has 1,030 locations andgenerated $2.65 billion in revenue for the year ended Jan. 31.Itsfull-year profit was $385.1 million or $3 per share.

Neil Rossy said changes to its product mix and gradualintroduction of $3.50 and $4 items in the second half of 2016 willhelp to partially offset the impact of a lower Canadian dollar whileimproving its results next year.

Dollarama's roots date back more than a century when Lebaneseimmigrant Salim Rossy opened the first S. Rossy Inc. store in 1910in Montreal.

His son George took the helm in 1937 and converted it to avariety store similar to Woolworth, one of the leading five-and-dimechains of the era.

After Larry Rossy succeeded his father upon his death in 1973, hemore than doubled the Rossy network to 44 stores over the next twodecades.

The Rossy stores were converted to the Dollarama concept with allitems offered for $1 in 1992. The first store outside Quebec wasopened in Grand Falls, N.B.

In 2004, Dollarama sold an 80 per cent stake in the company toBain Capital Partners for a reported $1 billion. That was five yearsbefore it went public.

The leadership announcement came as Dollarama reported betterthan expected revenue and profit for its fourth quarter and raisedits quarterly dividend by 11 per cent or a penny to 10 cents pershare.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, sales grew 14.6 per cent to $766.5million. Comparable-store sales a key retail measure of sales forstores open at least a year were up 7.9 per cent from the sameperiod in fiscal 2015. Net profit was $124.8 million or $1 perdiluted share, up from $100.27 million or 76 cents per share a yearearlier.