BENTONVILLE, Ark., July 6 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the five-week and 22-week periods ending June 30, 2006, and July 1, 2005, respectively, as follows (dollars in billions):
5 Weeks Ended 22 Weeks Ended
Percent Percent
6-30-2006 7-1-2005 Change 6-30-2006 7-1-2005 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $21.470 $20.230 6.1% $91.839 $84.573 8.6%
SAM'S CLUB 4.054 3.898 4.0% 17.278 16.291 6.1%
International 7.596 5.865 29.5% 31.812 25.196 26.3%
Total Company $33.120 $29.993 10.4% $140.929 $126.060 11.8%
Comparable sales for the periods ending June 30, 2006, and July 1, 2005,
were as follows:
5 Weeks Ended 22 Weeks Ended
6-30-2006 7-1-2005 6-30-2006 7-1-2005
Wal-Mart Stores 1.1% 4.9% 2.6% 3.4%
SAM'S CLUB 1.3% 3.8% 3.5% 2.5%
Total U.S. 1.2% 4.7% 2.7% 3.3%
The 29.5% increase for the five-week period and the 26.3% increase for the 22-week period in International's net sales includes sales from the consolidation of Seiyu and Wal-Mart Central America and the acquisition in Southern Brazil. These entities added 17.6 and 17.0 percentage points to the net sales increases in International for the five-week and 22-week periods, respectively.
"Despite various pressures on U.S. consumers, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. added more than $3 billion in sales during the five-week period in June," said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "Average ticket continues to drive our comp, as traffic was down during the month. Several factors contributed to the June comp of 1.2 percent."
Schoewe said Wal-Mart continues to see customers consolidating their trips, as company research among shoppers points to an increasing concern about the rise in gas prices over last year.
"The priority in spending by our customers is on food and consumables," Schoewe said. "In June, we reinforced Wal-Mart's low prices and value throughout the store by highlighting rollback prices on approximately 500 products through national advertising and increased signage. The rollback ads emphasized summer essentials and included food, beverages and health and beauty items.
"In addition, cooler trends in some regions of the country did result in softer sales of seasonal merchandise for the start of summer," he added.
Schoewe said that the estimate for comparable sales in the U.S. for the July four-week period is in the 1 to 3 percent range.
"Based on the results of the first two months, we estimate that the earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2007 will be within our previously stated guidance of $0.70 to $0.74," he said.
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 five-week period ending June 30, 2006, by 1.1 and 0.1 percentage points, respectively, and impacted the twenty-two-week period by 0.7 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively. Including the impact of fuel sales, the SAM'S CLUB and total U.S. comparable sales figures for the five-week period ending June 30, 2006, would have been 2.4% and 1.3%, respectively, and for the twenty-two-week period would have been 4.2% and 2.9%, respectively.
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 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 discuss our management's forecast of comparable sales for the July four-week period and its estimate of Wal-Mart's earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. Each of these statements is identified by use of the word "estimate" in the statement. These forward- looking statements are 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 these forward-looking statements. 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 July four-week period and our actual earnings per share for the quarter to end July 31, 2006 may differ materially from the 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 either of the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
SOURCE: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
CONTACT: Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446, or Carol Schumacher,
+1-479-277-1498, or Pauline Tureman, +1-479-277-9558, 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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