BENTONVILLE, Ark., Aug. 9 -- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
(NYSE: WMT) reported net sales for the four-week and 26-week periods ending
August 3, 2007, and August 4, 2006, respectively, as follows (dollars in
billions):
Net Sales
4 Weeks Ended Percent 26 Weeks Ended Percent
8/3/2007 8/4/2006 Change 8/3/2007 8/4/2006 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $16.988 $16.462 3.2% $114.560 $108.615 5.5%
Sam's Club 3.284 3.078 6.7% 21.834 20.382 7.1%
International 6.727 5.806 15.9% 42.291 36.393 16.2%
Total Company $26.999 $25.346 6.5% $178.685 $165.390 8.0%
Comparable store sales for the four-week and 26-week periods ending August 3, 2007, and August 4, 2006, respectively, were as follows:
Four Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
8/3/2007 8/4/2006 8/3/2007 8/4/2006 8/3/2007 08/4/2006
Wal-Mart Stores 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 5.1% 2.6% 4.9% 3.3% -0.2% 0.7%
Total U.S. 1.9% 1.5% 1.9% 1.6% 0.0% 0.1%
Twenty Six Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
8/3/2007 8/4/2006 8/3/2007 8/4/2006 8/3/2007 08/4/2006
Wal-Mart Stores 0.6% 2.6% 0.6% 2.6% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 5.3% 3.5% 5.3% 4.2% 0.0% 0.7%
Total U.S. 1.2% 2.7% 1.3% 2.8% 0.1% 0.1%
The Company reports net sales on a monthly basis based upon the 4-5-4 retail calendar. For earnings releases, the Company reports sales based upon the calendar months within the quarter and the fiscal year. Total net sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008 ended July 31, 2007 were approximately $92 billion. The Company will report quarterly earnings on August 14 before the market opens.
Wal-Mart Stores
Grocery sales were once again stronger than general merchandise sales during the four-week July sales period at the Wal-Mart segment. Perishables led the increase in grocery, with solid performance in dairy and bakery, as well as pharmacy. Electronics continued to show solid comparable store sales gains over last year, with strength in TVs, computers, digital cameras and video games.
The Company is encouraged by positive early signs in back-to-school and back-to-college categories. However, through the July four-week period, apparel and home overall continued to be soft and are expected to remain so through the third quarter.
Wal-Mart U.S. stepped up its promotional activity during the July four-week period. The stores increased their price leadership position with "rollback" and "save even more" programs on more than 16,000 products during July. The deep cuts on top brands and food started in time for the July 4th holiday, and continued throughout the four-week period, and customers have responded well.
"In the current economic environment, our customers depend on Wal-Mart to save them money on merchandise that they need," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart Stores U.S. president and chief executive officer. "Customers are responding to the pricing initiatives and traffic trends are improving. However, this is impacting gross margins."
Sam's Club
Sam's Club's sales for the four-week period were driven by continued momentum with small business owners. Sales were driven by increases in average ticket. In addition to small business categories, other strengths included electronics, fresh food and grocery. As the month of August gets under way, the clubs are completing the transition from summer outdoor goods to a furniture gallery and back-to-college in many markets. A fall merchandise transition will begin in September. The fuel impact was a minimal negative 20 basis points for the four-week period.
International
The Company continues to see the same pressures as in the United States on customers in its international markets, particularly in Mexico where the economy is experiencing lower growth and less consumer demand. However, there were positive sales results in certain markets, including Brazil and the U.K. In Brazil, sales were driven by an improved price position and recovery of consumer purchasing power.
Guidance
The Company expects the comparable store sales of its United States operations for the August four-week reporting period to be between 1 and 2 percent, said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer. The August four-week period runs from August 4 through August 31, 2007.
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 four-week and 26-week periods ended August 4, 2006 reported in this release match the comparable weeks for the current fiscal year. However, these four-week and 26-week comparable store sales periods reported for last year ended July 28, 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 August four-week period for the total Company comparable store sales is 2.9 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 August four-week reporting period to end August 31, 2007, and as to our management's expectations for sales of apparel and home overall during the third quarter for fiscal year 2008. These statements are identified by use of the words "expects" or "expected", 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- 08/09/2007
/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.walmart.com
http://www.samsclub.com /
(WMT)
CO: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
ST: Arkansas
IN: REA ECM SUP
SU: SLS
KF-AP
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4007 08/09/2007 07:57 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
