BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 3 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the four-week and 26-week periods ending July 28, 2006, and July 29, 2005, respectively, as follows (dollars in billions):
4 Weeks Ended 26 Weeks Ended
Percent Percent
7-28-2006 7-29-2005 Change 7-28-2006 7-29-2005 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $16.543 $15.260 8.4% $108.382 $99.833 8.6%
SAM'S CLUB 3.078 2.931 5.0% 20.356 19.222 5.9%
International 6.042 4.620 30.8% 37.854 29.816 27.0%
Total Company $25.663 $22.811 12.5% $166.592 $148.871 11.9%
Comparable sales for the periods ending July 28, 2006, and July 29, 2005, were as follows:
4 Weeks Ended 26 Weeks Ended
7-28-2006 7-29-2005 7-28-2006 7-29-2005
Wal-Mart Stores 2.3% 4.5% 2.6% 3.6%
SAM'S CLUB 3.1% 3.7% 3.4% 2.7%
Total U.S. 2.4% 4.4% 2.7% 3.5%
The 30.8% increase for the four-week period and the 27.0% increase for the 26-week period in International's net sales include sales from the consolidation of Seiyu and Wal-Mart Central America and the acquisition in Southern Brazil. These entities added 17.6 and 17.1 percentage points to the net sales increases in International for the four-week and 26-week periods, respectively.
"Our customers continued to prioritize spending on food and consumables and they responded early to price breaks for essential back to school supplies," said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "The timing for our back to school promotion was the same as last year and we achieved positive sales results in school supplies for the month, with strengths in crayons, pencils and theme notebooks.
"We were pleased with early customer reaction to fashion basics and room solutions for back to college. In apparel, school uniforms, screened t-shirts, fashion denim and shorts have done well," Schoewe added.
The estimate for comparable sales in the U.S. for the August four-week period is in the 1 to 3 percent range.
In July, the company opened 32 new locations. This included 25 supercenters, of which 12 were relocations or expansions of existing units, three SAM'S CLUBS, of which two were relocations or expansions of existing clubs, three Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets and one Wal-Mart discount store.
Comparable sales that are presented in this release exclude the impact of fuel sales in the company's SAM'S CLUB segment. Fuel sales impacted the SAM'S CLUB and total U.S. comparable sales figures for the four-week period ending July 28, 2006, by 0.6 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively, and impacted the 26-week period by 0.8 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively. Including the impact of fuel sales, the SAM'S CLUB and total U.S. comparable sales figures for the four-week period ending July 28, 2006, would have been 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively, and for the 26-week period would have been 4.2% and 2.8%, respectively.
The company's earnings release for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 is scheduled for Tuesday, August 15, 2006, before the NYSE opens. The dial-in number is 203-369-1090 and will be available for 36 hours after quarterly earnings are announced. The information from this pre-recorded phone call also will be available on our website at http://www.walmartstores.com/investors .
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart discount stores, supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM'S CLUB locations in the United States. The company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The company's securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Arca, formerly the Pacific Stock Exchange, under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartfacts.com . Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com .
This release contains a statement that Wal-Mart believes is a "forward- looking statement" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that is intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that Act. This forward-looking statement discusses our management's forecast of comparable sales for the August four-week period. This statement is identified by use of the word "estimate" in the statement. This forward-looking statement is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, domestically and internationally, including consumer spending patterns and debt levels, fuel prices, weather conditions, competitive pressures, currency exchange fluctuations, trade restrictions and other risks. We discuss certain of these matters and other risk factors more fully in our filings with the SEC, including our last Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC.
This release should be read in conjunction with that Annual Report on Form 10-K and our certain other filings with the SEC through the date of this release. We urge you to consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating this forward-looking statement. As a result of these and other matters, including changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, our actual comparable sales for the August four-week period may differ materially from the forecast discussed in the forward-looking statement. The forward-looking statement included in this release is made only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
SOURCE: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
CONTACT: investor relations, Carol Schumacher, +1-479-277-1498, or
Pauline Tureman, +1-479-277-9558, or Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446, or
media relations, Gail Lavielle, +1-479-273-4314, all of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010831/WALMARTLOGO
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