International Business

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported Thursday net income of $3.64 billion for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from $3.34 billion in the year-ago period.

Sales rose 3.4% to $113.20 billion, as U.S. sales beat internal expectations but overall missed Wall Street’s expected $114.96 in revenue.

Wal-Mart U.S. saw same-store sales rise 1.5%, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth after nine straight quarterly declines. At Sam’s Club, same-store sales rose 2.7%, excluding fuel.

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Sean John Corporate has named Jeff Tweedy as the fashion brand’s new president, effective immediately. Tweedy will report directly to Sean John chairman and founder Sean "Diddy" Combs, and will be responsible for all aspects of the company's operations, including strategic brand development, design and all the Sean John licensing and retail partners.

A 2.9% third quarter same store sales increase and the sale of its credit card business pushed Target’s third quarter profit up 17.6% to 96 cents a share.

Total sales increased 3.4% to $16.6 billion in third quarter due to the 2.9% comp increase and the benefit of a net increase of 18 stores compared to the prior year. Target ended the period with 1,781 stores and was up against a challenging prior year comparison when comps advanced 4.3%.

Framingham, Mass. -- Staples Inc. reported Wednesday a loss of $596.3 million for the third quarter, compared with a profit of $326.4 million a year earlier. Without restructuring costs, the office supply retailer generated a profit that just edged Wall Street expectations.

Sales for the quarter dropped 2% to $6.35 billion, missing analysts’ expected $6.45 billion in sales.

Third quarter sales at Staples declined 2% to a little less than $6.4 billion and a host of previously announced charges resulted in the company reporting a loss of $569 million or 85 cents a share.

Columbus, Ohio -- Abercrombie and Fitch reported Wednesday net income of $71.5 million for the third quarter, compared with $50.9 million in the year-ago period and beating Wall Street expectations. The retailer is forecasting annual earnings above analysts’ estimates.

Revenue rose 9% to $1.17 billion, boosted by a 37% rise in international sales. Same-store sales dipped 3%.

Strongsville, Ohio -- The International Retail User Group, formerly the IBM Retail User Group, said Tuesday that the organization’s name has been officially changed to the “International Retail User Group.”

Alan Hoffman, former deputy chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, is the new SVP of global public policy and government affairs at PepsiCo.