Analyzing the Repurchase of Shares and Retained Earnings

The following information is extracted from the statement of financial position of Dollarama Inc. All amounts are in thousands of Canadian dollars.

	February 1, 2015	February 2,2014
Shareholders' Equity
Share capital	$462,734	$493,602
Contributed capital	15,338	10,884
Retained earnings	196,112	346,478
Accumulated other comprehensive income	66,296	13,202
Total shareholders' equity	$740,480	$864,166

Net earnings for the year ended December 31,2015, is $295,410.

WestJet reported the following information in the notes to its 2015 financial statements:

$Taking into account the Share Split, the total number of common shares repurchased for cancellation under the 2013-2014 NCIB and the 2014-2015 NCIB during the year eded February 1,2015, amounted to 9,272,672 common shares ( February 2, 2014 - 7,440,836 common shares under the 2013-2014 NCIB) for a total cash consideration of $436,221 ( February 2, 2014 - $293,201). For the year ended February 1, 2015, the Corporation's share capital was reduced by $32,937 (February 2, 2014 -26,460) and the remaining $403,284 (February 2, 2014 - $266,741) was accounted for as a reduction of retained earnings.

REQUIRED:

1. Prepare the journal entry to record the share repurchase transaction.

2. Why do you think Dollarama decided to repurchase the shares? Explain.

3. Did Dollarama declare any dividends during fiscal year 2015? If so, compute the amount of dividends declared by the company?