Wal-Mart profit flat in Q1, meets Wall Street expectations
Bentonville, Ark. Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday reported a flat first-quarter profit, earning $3.02 billion for the period. Revenue fell 0.6% to $93.47 billion, from $94.04 billion a year earlier. The results met the expectations of analysts.
Wal-Mart said earnings were hurt by the stronger dollar. Without that impact, the company said sales would have risen 4.5% to $98.31 billion. Almost 25% (22.7%) of Wal-Mart's sales for the quarter came from its international division.
Last week, Wal-Mart reported that same-store sales rose 5% in April, beating the 2.9% gain expected by Wall Street. The figure excludes fuel sales.
"When economic conditions improve, we believe customers who shop Wal-Mart today will stay with us, because of the business improvements we're making and continue to make," Duke said. "Across the company, we are building our brand by reducing costs, sharpening our merchandising and updating our stores," said president and CEO Mike Duke.