WMT's Q2 2010 sales fell 1.4% due to the bleak economy and a 1.2% decrease in comparable store sales. However, the company's profits beat the Street's estimates.
For the current fiscal year ending Jan 31, 2010, WMT has increased its annual dividend to $1.09/share, which is a 15% increase from the $0.95 per share paid out during FY2009 (ended Jan 31, 2009). The first dividend will be paid out on April 6, 2009, for all common shareholders on record on March 13, 2009. WMT has increased its dividend every year since its first declared dividend of $0.05/share in March 1974.
WMT may be planning to expand into the Russian market through acquiring the majority of shares of the large Russian retailer Lenta. Lenta currently owns 34 hypermarkets with sales of approximately $2.3 billion USD. Lenta also has competitive penetration into the food retail market in Russia, a major selling point as the Russian food retail market is highly fragmented.
For Q4 FY2009 (ended Jan 31, 2009), WMT reported sales revenue of $108 billion, which is a 1.7% increase year-on-year. Net income was $3.8 billion, a 7.4% decrease from the previous-year quarter, mainly due to litigation costs and negative impact of currency on international sales revenue. Accounting for the impact of fuel cost fluctuations, comparable store sales for the domestic stores were up 2.3% for the quarter.
International sales increased 11.0 percent in the January period.
The 1.7% increase in WMT's December same-store sales was 1.1% less than what Thomson Reuters projected.
In Q3 FY2009, WMT reported net sales of $97.6 billion, an increase of 7.5% from Q3 FY2008's sales of $90.8 billion. Net income increase 9.8% from the prior-year quarter, to a total of $3.138 billion. However, despite comparable-store sales of 3.3% reported in Q3, WMT predicted that in the Q4 Christmas season, comparable store sales will be around 1% to 3%.
Wal-Mart earned $36.229 billion in Q3 2009, a 5.8% increase from a year earlier driven primarily by a 2.4% increase in comparable store sales during the period. Grocery and health and wellness sales spurred the company's growth in revenues during the quarter.
For the month of June 2008, Wal-Mart posted a same store sales increase of 5.8% as compared with a 2.4% increase in same store sales for June 2007. ..
Over the past few years, the market for music has been transitioning from CDs to digital music. Not only has iTunes become the largest marketplace for music, but Wal-Mart, the largest marketer for CDs domestically has been winding down its CD business and has started to seek exclusive release deals with record companies rather than just providing a comprehensive CD inventory.
Wal-Mart and Yahoo have teamed up to provide ad space on Wal-Mart’s website.
Through its website, Wal-Mart is affording its online customer base to submit to a free database of online classifieds.
Wal-Mart has pushed further into the healthcare market, providing incremental price cuts on over-the-counter and prescription medicines available through its in-house pharmacy. Wal-Mart has saved consumers around $1.6 billion in healthcare-related costs since the start of its “$4 generic brand” campaign in 2006.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. retailers are on track to report their slowest monthly sales growth in five years, which would further cement fears that American consumers are buckling under the weight of a slowing economy.Leading the way is No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc., (WMT, Fortune 500) which on Thursday reported a big miss in its January same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year. Same-store sales is a key measure of performance in the retail industry.
Wal-Mart reported strong earnings figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 despite volatile economic conditions over the past few months that have hurt businesses in various industries. Wal-Mart saw net sales rise 8.8% from the same quarter in fiscal 2007 to $90.8 billion in the most recent quarter. The $90.8 billion in sales was distributed between Wal-Mart stores, Sam's Club locations, and international operations 63.4%, 11.9% and 24.7% respectively.
Walmart reported earnings of 72 cents a share, four cents below analyst estimates, and lowered its expectations for the rest of the year. The company blamed high gas prices and a deteriorating housing market for making customers hesitant to spend.
Announces $15 Billion Share Buyback Plan
Wal-Mart launches a national ad campaign to promote environmentally friendly products. It also asks suppliers to cut down on the amount of packaging used for products sent to Wal-Mart stores.
Wal-Mart reports a 0.9% increase in same store sales for February, lower than the 1-2% expected by analysts and Wal-Mart projections. The company attributes this to low sales performance due to blizzards in the Midwest and Northeast, as well as slowdown in home decor and clothing.
Wal-Mart reports a better than expected fourth quarter due to holiday sales and strong performance from its holdings in Mexico and the UK.
