Net Sales
5 Weeks Ended Percent 22 Weeks Ended Percent
7/4/2008 7/6/2007 Change 7/4/2008 7/6/2007 Change
Wal-Mart Stores $25.248 $22.940 10.1% $104.475 $97.572 7.1%
Sam's Club 4.809 4.417 8.9% 19.876 18.550 7.1%
International 9.882 8.454 16.9% 41.966 35.564 18.0%
Total Company $39.939 $35.811 11.5% $166.317 $151.686 9.6%
Comparable store sales for the five- and 22-week periods ending July 4, 2008, and July 6, 2007, respectively, were as follows.
Five Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
7/4/2008 7/6/2007 7/4/2008 7/6/2007 7/4/2008 7/6/2007
Wal-Mart Stores 6.1% 1.6% 6.1% 1.6% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 4.6% 6.9% 8.3% 7.6% 3.7% 0.7%
Total U.S. 5.8% 2.4% 6.4% 2.5% 0.6% 0.1%
Twenty-two Weeks Comparable Store Sales
Without Fuel With Fuel Fuel Impact
7/4/2008 7/6/2007 7/4/2008 7/6/2007 7/4/2008 7/6/2007
Wal-Mart Stores 3.2% 0.4% 3.2% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0%
Sam's Club 3.1% 5.4% 6.1% 5.5% 3.0% 0.1%
Total U.S. 3.2% 1.1% 3.7% 1.2% 0.5% 0.1%
Wal-Mart U.S.
All six merchandise units (grocery, entertainment, health and wellness, apparel, home and hardlines) achieved comparable store sales increases in the June five-week period. The strongest results remain in grocery, entertainment and health and wellness. Favorable weather and improved assortments helped drive seasonal sales in apparel, toys and hardlines. In addition, the economic stimulus checks contributed to increases in overall comparable store traffic results.
"Our underlying business is strong because of price leadership, clearly defined product offerings and a better store experience that continue to drive customers to our stores," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart U.S. president and chief executive officer. "Customers like what they are seeing and they're shopping more of the store. Assortments and brands have improved, which bodes well for the upcoming seasons, including back-to-school."
Sales in entertainment were strong, with flat panel television sets continuing to run high double-digit comparable store increases. Within apparel, sales of swimwear and sportswear were strong.
Sam's Club
Sam's Club sales during the June period had strengths in fresh foods, dry grocery and consumables. Video games and mattresses were among the best performing general merchandise categories. House wares and jewelry were soft. Seasonal hardline sales were also behind plan.
"Both traffic and ticket continued to increase with both our Business and Advantage members in June, even excluding fuel sales," said Doug McMillon, Sam's Club president and chief executive officer. "We continue to see a shift in the overall mix toward fuel, food and consumables, as our members manage through the current environment. Small business is especially price conscious in this environment and we remain committed to delivering value for them."
Fuel sales were higher both in gallons and dollars sold, increasing comparable club sales with fuel by 3.7 percentage points. The transition of the clubs to back-to-college and fall merchandise is on schedule for later in the month.
Wal-Mart International
Wal-Mart International's sales for the June period were strongest in the United Kingdom, Brazil and China.
"Our international businesses continued to show strong sales increases during June," said Mike Duke, vice chairman, Wal-Mart International. "We are committed to serving our customers in a manner that resonates with them everywhere we do business. Our ability to serve our customers through different formats at every day low prices is helping us lead in each of our markets."
In the U.K., sales at ASDA grew faster than the market due to higher customer traffic, which was driven by ASDA's strong value message. ASDA won an award for being the lowest priced supermarket in the country from The Grocer, the U.K.'s leading grocery trade publication, for the eleventh year in a row.
Brazil again had strong sales, led by the low-income format Todo Dia, the hypermarkets in the South and Southeast, and Maxxi, the cash-and-carry format.
At Wal-Mart China, merchandising for a new federal holiday -- the Dragon Boat Festival -- and effective advertising contributed to the positive sales performance. One Trust-Mart store located in Sichuan province remains closed because of the May 12 earthquake.
Wal-Mart Canada had strong sales leading up to Canada Day, a national holiday on July 1. Wal-Mart Canada opened two new supercentres, bringing the total number of Canadian supercentres to 34 and total units in Canada to 307.
Wal-Mart Mexico's total and comparable store sales growth continue to be driven by traffic growth at the self-service formats, Bodega Aurrera, Wal-Mart Supercenter, Sam's Club, and Superama. Yesterday, Wal-Mart Mexico announced its comparable store sales increased 8.0 percent in nominal terms during the calendar June period. Lower consumer confidence negatively affected sales at the discretionary spending formats, Suburbia and Vips.
Guidance
"Our estimate for U.S. comparable store sales, excluding fuel, for the July four-week period is between two and four percent," said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer. "The Wal-Mart U.S. underlying business remains strong. However, consumers and small business owners remain concerned about the economy, inflation and most of all, higher gas prices. With the last large mailing of economic stimulus checks due this Friday, it is difficult to forecast the benefit from the economic stimulus through the remainder of the year.
"Because of our improved sales results during the quarter, we have updated our guidance estimate for earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 to a range of $0.82 to $0.84," Schoewe said.
The July four-week period runs from July 5, 2008 through Aug. 1, 2008. The second quarter of fiscal year 2009 runs from May 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008.
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 and, through a joint venture, in India. 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, as amended, and that are intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that act. These forward-looking statements relate to our management's estimates for our comparable store sales in the United States for the July four-week reporting period to end August 1, 2008, and for our earnings per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. These statements are identified by use of the word "estimate" in the statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, domestically and internationally, including general economic conditions, the availability of consumer credit, consumer spending patterns and debt levels, unemployment levels, fuel prices, inflation levels, weather conditions, competitive pressures and other risks. The Company discusses certain of these matters and other risk factors more fully in its filings with the SEC, including the most recent 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 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 the forward-looking statements made in this release 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 such 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 either of them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
http://www.walmartstores.com
