Wal-Mart reaches quarterly sales milestone

BENTONVILLE, Ark. Wal-Mart today reported that it brought in more than $100 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, the most any retailer has done in a single quarter. The company reported net sales of $106.3 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, an increase of 8.3% over the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007.

"For the fourth quarter, we topped $100 billion in sales, the first time in history that any retailer has reached this milestone in a single quarter," said Lee Scott, Wal-Mart Stores president and ceo. "We had a very strong underlying operating performance, exceeding our expectations for the quarter. In addition to another year of record sales and earnings, we also delivered a record return to our shareholders this year through more than $11 billion in share repurchase and dividends."

According to Wal-Mart, income from continuing operations for the quarter was $4.1 billion, an increase of 4% from $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007. The company reporteddiluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fourth quarter were $1.02, up 7.4%  from 95 cents per share in the same prior year quarter.

Net sales for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 were $374.5 billion, an increase of 8.6% over fiscal year 2007, Wal-Mart reported. Income from continuing operations for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31 increased 5.8% to $12.9 billion, up from $12.2 billion in the prior year. Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for the fiscal year were $3.16, up 8.2% from $2.9 in the prior year.