Finance & Capital Management

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- The Walmart Foundation announced that is committing more than $2.5 million in grants to various projects aimed at improving the lives of women in Latin America. 

"We believe that when women achieve economic empowerment, their voices are also empowered," said Eduardo Solorzano, president and CEO of Walmart Latinoamerica. "So not only will they be able to create more stable futures for their families, they will play transformational roles in bettering the lives of women and children across Latin America."

Shareholders of Wal-Mart de Mexico elected three new female board members at the company’s annual meeting yesterday, bringing to six the number of women on the company’s eleven-member board.

The new members include Shelley Broader, chief merchandising officer of Walmart Canada, Olga Gonzalez, Walmart’s VP audit services for Latin America and Kristin Oliver, SVP people for the Walmart International division. Other women on the board include Cathy Smith, Blanca Trevino and Kristin Oliver.

New York City -- Aeropostale's fourth-quarter profit slid 13% amid weaker gross margins and falling same-store sales. For the quarter ended Jan. 29, the chain posted a profit of $83.8 million, down from $96.6 million a year earlier.

Revenue increased 5% to $839.3 million, from $801.2 million in the year-ago period. Same-store sales decreased 3%.

For the full year, net sales increased 8% to $2.4 billion, from $2.23 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales inched up 1%.

Everett, Wash. -- Zumiez reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 29 almost doubled to $15 million, compared with net income of $8.8 million in the year-ago period.

Sales increased 17.9% to $156.2 million, from $132.4 million. Same-store sales increased 13 %.

For the full year, sales rose 17.5% to $478.8 million, from $407.6 million. Profit rose to $24.2 million, from $9.1 million in fiscal 2009.

Same-store sales increased 11.9% in fiscal 2010.

Laval, QC -- Canadian c-store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard reported Thursday that net income for its fiscal third quarter rose 29.6% to $71 million, compared with $54.8 million in the year-ago period.

Revenues rose 13.7% to $5.6 billion. Same-store merchandise sales were up 3.9% in the United States and 0.4% in Canada.
 
Alimentation Couche-Tard operates a network of 5,874 convenience stores in the United States and Canada.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores, in a presentation at a Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference on Thursday, announced that it would open “hundreds” of smaller-format stores over the next three years.

According to Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart U.S., the ramped-up development could be augmented by some acquisition activity, although he didn’t elaborate on specifics.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday showed that consumer confidence fell last week to the lowest level in a month, negatively impacted by rising fuel prices.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index dropped to minus 44.5 in the week ended March 6, from the prior week’s minus 39.7, which was close to the highest in almost three years. Surging gas prices have left Americans concerned about personal finances.

Kearney, Neb. -- The Buckle reported Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 29 rose to $49.5 million, compared with $42.1 million in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 10.4% to $303.1 million, from $274.4 million.

Same-store sales increased 6.3%.

For the full year, The Buckle reported that net income rose to $134.7 million from $127.3 million in 2009. Yearly sales increased 5.7% to $949.8 million, from $898.3 million. Same-store sales edged up 1.2%.

Jacksonville, Fla. -- Stein Mart reported Thursday that fourth quarter profit surged to $18.8 million from $2.7 million in the year-ago period. Results included an income tax benefit in fourth quarter 2010.

Revenue for the quarter ended Jan. 29 decreased 1.5% to $336.7 million, compared with $341.8 a year earlier. Same-store sales dipped 1.2%.