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Wal-Mart U.S. Comps Rise 1% in Q4

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here last week said net profits during the fiscal fourth quarter improved by 8.6%, helped by lower than expected tax rates and modest gains in holiday sales.

Jon Springer, Executive Editor

February 21, 2013

2 Min Read
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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores here last week said net profits during the fiscal fourth quarter improved by 8.6%, helped by lower than expected tax rates and modest gains in holiday sales.

Overall sales for the quarter, which ended Jan. 27, improved 3.9% to $127.1 billion. In the U.S., sales during the quarter improved by 2.6% to $74.7 billion, with comparable-store sales up by 1%.

Bill Simon, chief executive officer of Walmart U.S., said comps in the current first quarter would likely be flat as the stores felt the effect of a slower pace of tax refunds early in the quarter. The company said overall sales for the year would likely fall in the lower end of its 5% to 7% range announced in October “given the soft economic environment.”

Simon said grocery generated low single-digit comps during the quarter, highlighted by positive comps in meat and produce. Neighborhood Market stores produced mid-single-digit comps and positive traffic for the fiscal year, while the Walmart Express small stores open for more than a year are delivering double-digit positive comps, Simon said.

Read more: Sweetbay Closures Give Opportunities to Wal-Mart, Publix

The company has plans to open 100 new small stores in fiscal 2014, up from 76 last year.

For the 52-week fiscal year, sales improved 5% to 466.1 billion and net earnings of $15.7 billion improved by 8.3%.

 

About the Author

Jon Springer

Executive Editor

Jon Springer is executive editor of Winsight Grocery Business with responsibility for leading its digital news team. Jon has more than 20 years of experience covering consumer business and retail in New York, including more than 14 years at the Retail/Financial desk at Supermarket News. His previous experience includes covering consumer markets for KPMG’s Insiders; the U.S. beverage industry for Beverage Spectrum; and he was a Senior Editor covering commercial real estate and retail for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Jon began his career as a sports reporter and features editor for the Cecil Whig, a daily newspaper in Elkton, Md. Jon is also the author of two books on baseball. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Journalism from the University of Delaware. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his family.

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