Mar 02, 2006 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the four-week period ending February 24, 2006, and February 25, 2005, as follows (dollars in billions):
4 Weeks Ended
2-24-2006 2-25-2005 Percent
Change
Wal-Mart Stores $16.652 $15.134 10.0%
SAM'S CLUB 3.038 2.823 7.6%
International 5.344 4.411 21.2%
Total Company $25.034 $22.368 11.9%
Comparable sales for the periods ending February 24, 2006, and February 25, 2005, were as follows:
4 Weeks Ended
2-24-2006 2-25-2005
Wal-Mart Stores 2.9% 4.2 %
SAM'S CLUB 4.6% 3.1 %
Total U.S. 3.2% 4.1 %
The 21.2% increase in international includes sales from the consolidation of Seiyu and our acquisition in Southern Brazil.
Comparable sales that are presented in this release exclude the impact of fuel sales in our SAM'S CLUB segment. Fuel sales impacted the SAM'S CLUB and total U.S. comparable sales figures for the period ending February 24, 2006, by 0.7 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 period ending February 24, 2006, would have been 5.3% and 3.3%, respectively.
During the four-week period, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. added more than $2.6 billion in sales.
"For this quarter, we reiterate our U.S. comp sales outlook of 2 to 4 percent," said Wal-Mart Stores Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe. "Within the quarter, Easter is three weeks later this year, which will likely result in a weaker March and a stronger April. Due to this shift, we estimate comp store sales in the U.S. for the March five-week period to be between 1 and 3 percent."
Food and consumable sales continued to outpace general merchandise during February, he added.
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 March five-week period, the April four-week period and for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 appear in the fourth paragraph following the comparable sales table in this release. They are identified by use of the words "estimate", "likely" and "outlook". 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 these forward-looking statements. As a result of these matters, including changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, our actual comparable sales for the March five-week period, the April four-week period and for the first quarter of fiscal 2007 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.
Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446
Carol Schumacher, +1-479-277-1498
Pauline Tureman, +1-479-277-9558
Media relations, Marty Heires, +1-479-273-4314
All of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
