BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 6 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the 5-week period ending September 30, 2005, and October 1, 2004, as follows (dollars in billions):
5 Weeks Ended 35 Weeks Ended
Percent Percent
9-30-2005 10-1-2004 Change 9-30-2005 10-1-2004 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $18.618 $17.169 8.4% $134.160 $122.058 9.9%
SAM'S CLUB 3.789 3.394 11.6% 26.014 24.236 7.3%
International 5.835 5.176 12.7% 40.265 35.709 12.8%
Total Company $28.242 $25.739 9.7% $200.439 $182.003 10.1%
Comparable sales for the periods ending September 30, 2005 and October 1, 2004, were as follows:
5 Weeks Ended 35 Weeks Ended
9-30-2005 10-1-2004 9-30-2005 10-1-2004
Wal-Mart Stores 2.6% 2.1% 3.3% 3.3%
SAM'S CLUB 9.8% 4.5% 4.9% 7.1%
Total U.S. 3.8% 2.5% 3.5% 3.9%
SAM'S CLUB comparable sales without gasoline sales would have been 6.3% for the September 5-week period. Total U.S. comparable sales would have been 3.2% without the SAM'S gasoline sales. During the 5-week and 35-week periods, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. added over $2.5 billion and $18.4 billion in sales, respectively.
We estimate comparable sales in the U.S. for the October four-week period to be in the 2 to 4 percent range.
Tom Schoewe, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer said, "During the current quarter, many of our customers, associates and communities were deeply affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We dedicated our resources to assist in the recovery. Toward that objective, we made cash and merchandise contributions but also incurred additional associate, logistics and operational costs. The impact of these hurricanes on the third quarter will decrease earnings by approximately $0.01 per share."
Despite the financial impact of the hurricanes, our earnings per share guidance remains at $0.55 to $0.59 for the third fiscal quarter.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart 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 and Pacific stock exchanges 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 statements that Wal-Mart believes are "forward- looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that Act. These forward- looking statements, which discuss our management's forecast of comparable sales for the October four-week period and earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter, appear in the paragraphs following the comparable sales table in this release. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, domestically and internationally, including, consumer spending patterns and debt levels, weather conditions, competitive pressures, currency exchange fluctuations, trade restrictions, and other risks. We discuss certain of these matters 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 other filings with the SEC through the date of this report. 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 matters, including changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, our actual comparable sales for the October four-week period and earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter may differ materially from forecasts discussed in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this report, and we undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
SOURCE: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
CONTACT: investor relations, Jay Fitzsimmons, +1-479-273-6445, or
Pauline Tureman, +1-479-277-9558, or Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446, or
media relations, Marty Heires, +1-479-273-4314, all of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010831/WALMARTLOGO
Web site: http://www.walmartstores.com
