BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 31 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
(NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the four-week and 30-week periods ending
August 25, 2006, and August 26, 2005, respectively, as follows (dollars in
billions):
4 Weeks Ended 30 Weeks Ended
Percent Percent
8-25-2006 8-26-2005 Change 8-25-2006 8-26-2005 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $16.980 $15.709 8.1% $125.362 $115.542 8.5%
SAM'S CLUB 3.130 3.003 4.2% 23.486 22.225 5.7%
International 5.855 4.360 34.3% 42.055 32.374 29.9%
Total Company $25.965 $23.072 12.5% $190.903 $170.141 12.2%
Comparable sales for the periods ending August 25, 2006, and August 26, 2005, were as follows:
4 Weeks Ended 30 Weeks Ended
8-25-2006 8-26-2005 8-25-2006 8-26-2005
Wal-Mart Stores 2.5% 2.9% 2.6% 3.6%
SAM'S CLUB 3.4% 3.7% 3.4% 2.8%
Total U.S. 2.7% 3.1% 2.7% 3.4%
The net sales for the company's International segment for the four-week and 30-week periods ending August 25, 2006, and August 26, 2005, do not include the sales of our discontinued operations in Germany and South Korea.
The 34.3% increase for the four-week period and the 29.9% increase for the 30-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 18.7 and 18.2 percentage points to the net sales increases in International for the four-week and 30-week periods, respectively.
"We saw sales momentum for the August period build throughout the month. Our customers focused spending on food, consumables, and items for back to school," said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "We achieved our plan in sales for school supplies and back to college. Customers also responded well to items in electronics, and to our basic and fashion clothing offerings in apparel for the back to school season."
The Company's back to school advertising messages were more focused on students, especially teens, this year. The back to college circular featured appliances, storage, apparel, electronics, snack food and health and beauty aids.
"The weather trends in August also helped drive strength in fans and air conditioners, as well as summer seasonal items," Schoewe added.
The estimate for comparable sales in the United States for the September five-week period is 1 to 3 percent.
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 August 25, 2006, by (0.4) and (0.1) percentage points, respectively, and impacted the 30-week period by 0.6 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 August 25, 2006, would have been 3.0 and 2.6, respectively, and for the 30-week period would have been 4.0 and 2.8, 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 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 September five-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 September five-week period may differ materially from the estimate 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: Carol Schumacher, +1-479-277-1498, or Pauline Tureman,
+1-479-277-9558, or Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446, or media relations,
Sarah Clark, +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
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