Richelieu Hardware Ltd. posted a higher profit in its latest quarter amid a sharp rise in sales as the company added three new acquisitions to its network.

The maker of specialty hardware and other products says net earnings attributable to shareholders was $30.1 million or 53 cents  per diluted share for the quarter ended Feb. 28.

The result compared with a profit of $21 million or 37 cents per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.

Sales in the Montreal-based company's first quarter reached $384.5 million, up from $298 million a year ago.

Richelieu president and CEO Richard Lord says the company completed the acquisitions of Compi Distributors of Missouri and Illinois, HGH Hardware Supply of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia, and National Builders Hardware of Oregon at the end of 2021.

He says the three acquisitions added approximately $100 million in annual sales and help strengthen the company's position in the U.S.