Bentonville, Ark. – Sales at Wal-Mart climbed 15.2 percent in the company’s first quarter, reaching $35.4 million, up from $30.8 million in the year-ago period. Wal-Mart stores enjoyed an 8.6 percent increase in comp-store sales for the three months.
In the first quarter, ended April 30, operating profit in the Wal-Mart Stores segment, including Supercenters, jumped 16.1 percent, to $2.6 billion, compared with $2.2 billion in the same three months in 2001. The retailer defines this as profit before interest, unallocated corporate expenses and income taxes.
Sales at Sam’s Club for the first quarter rose 11.6 percent, hitting $7.3 billion, up from $6.5 billion in the first quarter of last year. Sam’s comp-store sales for the first three months increased 5.7 percent.
The Sam’s Club segment had an operating profit for the first quarter of $218 million, flat, when compared with the same quarter in 2001.
Wal-Mart’s International stores reported a 17.8 percent increase in sales in the first three months, reaching $9 billion, up from $7.6 billion year over year. The International segment had an operating profit of $381 million for the quarter, an increase of 77.2 percent over the $215 million recorded in the same period last year.
Total Wal-Mart Stores sales for the first three months increased 14.4 percent, to $55 billion, up from $48.1 billion in the previous years first quarter. Net income for the first quarter was $1.7 billion, up 19.4 percent from the $1.4 billion reported in the year-ago period. Total company comp-store sales for the first three months were up 8.1 percent.
