If you'd bought 1,000 shares of Dollarama in the IPO and are still holding, today you'd have $128,211 — a paper profit of $110,711, and an annual return just shy of 30%. It's impossible not to marvel at the success of Dollarama, one of the few examples of a private-equity-sponsored IPO that didn't turn the company into a real basket case. That's due in large part to the excellent management team led by Neil Rossy and his father Larry. Without them, I doubt we'd be having this conversation. Why buy back stock? Since hitting a peak number of shares outstanding in fiscal 2011 (150.9 million), Dollarama began repurchasing its shares. As of the end of the first quarter, there were 115.7 million outstanding, or 23.3% less. Without doing anything else to improve its business, Dollarama's earnings per share increased by 30%, or 3.4% annually. Given that earnings drive stock prices, it's a very persuasive argument why regular buybacks are a good thing at almost any cost.