BENTONVILLE, Ark., July 12 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
(NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the five-week and 22-week periods ending
July 6, 2007, and July 7, 2006, respectively, as follows (dollars in
billions):
Net Sales
5 Weeks Ended Percent 22 Weeks Ended Percent
7/6/2007 7/7/2006 Change 7/6/2007 7/7/2006 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $22.940 $21.412 7.1% $97.572 $92.153 5.9%
Sam's Club 4.417 4.030 9.6% 18.550 17.304 7.2%
International 8.454 7.293 15.9% 35.564 30.587 16.3%
Total Company $35.811 $32.735 9.4% $151.686 $140.044 8.3%
Comparable store sales for the five-week and 22-week periods ending July 6, 2007, and July 7, 2006, respectively, were as follows:
Five Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
7/6/2007 7/7/2006 7/6/2007 7/7/2006 7/6/2007 7/7/2006
Wal-Mart Stores 1.6% 1.3% 1.6% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 6.9% 1.6% 7.6% 2.4% 0.7% 0.8%
Total U.S. 2.4% 1.3% 2.5% 1.4% 0.1% 0.1%
Twenty Two Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
7/6/2007 7/7/2006 7/6/2007 7/7/2006 7/6/2007 7/7/2006
Wal-Mart Stores 0.4% 2.8% 0.4% 2.8% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 5.4% 3.6% 5.5% 4.4% 0.1% 0.8%
Total U.S. 1.1% 2.9% 1.2% 3.0% 0.1% 0.1%
Wal-Mart Stores
As in the past four months of this fiscal year, grocery sales continued to be stronger than general merchandise during the June five-week period at the Wal-Mart Stores segment. An exception was the entertainment category. Sales of flat panel televisions, MP3 players, video game hardware and accessories, laptops and desktop computers had significant year-over-year gains. Computer sales were fueled by the introduction of select Dell computers now sold at Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs throughout the United States.
"Consumers continue to be challenged financially, with more pressure on discretionary spending," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart Stores U.S. president and chief executive officer. "Gas prices have moved to be their chief concern in our latest survey and they appreciate the opportunity to save on everything.
"We have a single-minded focus on reducing prices on specific items throughout the year. We are committed to helping our consumers find lower prices by working with key suppliers, reducing packaging and lowering distribution costs. Clearly, Wal-Mart customers are responding," Castro-Wright added. "This is not short-term relief. We are already working on items for the fall and holiday seasons."
Softness persisted in home and apparel categories through the June period. Merchandise for school and college will begin arriving in U.S. stores this month, with lower prices to appeal to customers concerned about money and the cost of living. Customers at Wal-Mart will find revitalized "rollback" and "save even more" programs throughout the store this fall.
Sam's Club
Sam's Club experienced continued momentum with sales to small business owners, with positive trends in both business member ticket and traffic. Category strengths were in food, including fresh items. Sales of outdoor furniture and grills improved, when compared to the four-week May period.
International
The Company sees the same pressures on customers in many of its international markets as in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Asda for example, has launched its biggest ever campaign of price reductions across food, general merchandise, George clothing and, just last week, fuel.
Guidance
The Company expects comparable store sales for the July four-week reporting period to be between 1 and 2 percent, said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer. The July four-week period runs from July 7 through August 3, 2007.
"We estimate that earnings per share from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 will continue to be within our previously stated guidance of $0.75 to $0.79," Schoewe said. "We remain in a challenging environment, but still believe the earnings guidance for the quarter is attainable."
As previously noted, the Company reports net sales and comparable store sales consistent with the National Retail Federation (NRF) calendar. The NRF calendar for the most recently completed year included 53 weeks, but includes only 52 weeks this year. The weekly sales information for the five-week and 22-week periods ended July 7, 2006 reported in this release match the comparable weeks for the current fiscal year. However, these five-week and 22-week comparable store sales periods reported for last year ended July 6, 2006, one week earlier.
The Company has posted on its web site, http://www.walmartstores.com/investors, a "reclassification" document showing prior year comparable store sales re-grouped to match the comparable weeks for the current reporting calendar. The reclassification for the July four-week period for the total Company comparable store sales is 1.5 percent, excluding the impact of fuel.
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, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. The Company's securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT. More information about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartstores.com. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.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 include statements as to our management's expectation for comparable store sales for the July four-week reporting period to end August 3, 2007, and our management's estimate for earnings per share from continuing operations for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008. These statements are identified by use of the words "expects" or "estimate", in the statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, domestically and internationally, including consumer spending patterns and debt levels, unemployment levels, fuel prices, inflation levels, weather conditions, competitive pressures 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. This release should be read in conjunction with that Annual Report on Form 10-K and certain other Company filings with the SEC through the date of this release. The Company urges you to consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating these forward-looking statements and not to place undue reliance on such statements. As a result of these and other matters, including changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, our actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
-0- 07/12/2007
/CONTACT: Investor Relations, +1-479-273-8446, or Carol Schumacher,
+1-479-277-1498, or Anthony Clark, +1-479-277-9558, or media relations, John
Simley, 1-800-331-0085, all of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. /
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/Web site: http://www.walmartstores.com
http://www.samsclub.com /
(WMT)
CO: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
ST: Arkansas
IN: REA
SU: SLS ERP
WB-AH
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9519 07/12/2007 07:37 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
