Walmart U.S.
"Walmart's clear price leadership position continues to meet the needs of
our customers in a difficult economy," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Walmart
U.S. president and chief executive officer. "Better merchandise presentation,
our everyday low price message and an improved store experience resonate with
customers. With the end of the stimulus checks, we know consumers are spending
more cautiously, and we continue to see a pronounced paycheck cycle at the end
of the month. We also continue to see improvement in our customer traffic,
relative to last year."
During the July four-week period, comparable store sales increased in
grocery, entertainment and health and wellness. Although comparable store
sales in home and apparel were slightly negative during the period, the stores
had much cleaner inventory in these areas and therefore, much less clearance
than in the same period last year.
Grocery was driven by strong sales in both food and consumables.
Flat-panel televisions, video games, game accessories and digital media led
the entertainment merchandise unit. Apparel was aided by strengths in juniors
and new brands, including l.e.i. and Ocean Pacific. The home furnishings
business led the home category, with strengths in ready-to-assemble furniture.
The Canopy brand, introduced earlier this year, has been successfully
integrated into the home offering and is performing well on-line and in
stores.
The Company saw momentum building in back-to-school and back-to-college
offerings across the store and expects that momentum to carry through the
August period. Customers are responding well to the "Do the math and save"
messaging in advertising and in-store communications on products ranging from
laptop computers to glue sticks.
Sam's Club
Sales at Sam's Club were driven by strengths in fresh food, dry grocery
and consumables. Softness continued in house wares and residential furniture.
Comparable club traffic and average ticket, excluding fuel, were higher for
both Business and Advantage members.
"Small business continues to be the foundation of our growth," said Doug
McMillon, president and chief executive officer of Sam's Club. "We continue to
see inflationary pressures and we're working to mitigate the impact wherever
possible for our Business and Advantage members. While general merchandise
sales are generally softer than in food, Sam's Club members are responding to
our focus on new items and new technology."
Fuel sales continue to be a strong driver of top-line sales growth for
Sam's Club, with increases in both dollars and gallons sold.
Wal-Mart International
"We continue to be pleased with the sales results of our international
businesses," said Mike Duke, vice chairman, Wal-Mart International. "In our
markets around the world, customers continue to see the value of our everyday
low price offering and are responding to it with increased traffic at many of
our formats."
In the United Kingdom, ASDA delivered another strong sales performance, as
sales grew in the high single digits. Core food categories continued to sell
well because of strong customer traffic. Clothing sales strengthened in the
month and outperformed a difficult market. Summer seasonal inventory was in
good shape at the end of the month. Also during July, ASDA opened its sixth
new food store this year, in Dalgety Bay, Scotland, and the store is
performing ahead of expectations.
Wal-Mart Brazil delivered a very strong comparable store sales performance
in July. Brazil's performance was led once again by the low price consumer
format, Todo Dia, and the cash and carry format, Maxxi, as well as
hypermarkets in the Southeast and supermarkets in the South.
Wal-Mart Canada delivered solid sales results, despite record rainfall
that negatively affected some summer category sales. Two new supercentres were
opened in July. The 36 Canadian supercentres continue to help strengthen food
sales and overall market share.
In China, Wal-Mart celebrated the 12th anniversary of its entry in the
country and featured rollbacks on more than 1,000 items. These rollbacks, as
well as improved quality of fresh items, contributed to higher sales at the
Wal-Mart supercenters. At the 100 Trust-Mart hypermarkets, there were positive
increases in both customer count and average ticket. One Trust-Mart store
remains closed from the May earthquake.
In Japan, comparable store sales declined slightly in July, although
year-to-date comparable store sales remain positive. General merchandise
comparable store sales were up for the month, as customers responded to
everyday low price programs and seasonal merchandise. Apparel sales were
negative, impacted by a planned reduction in promotional activity. Food
categories have been a bright spot throughout the year, but registered mixed
performance during the month of July. Customers are responding well to the
introduction of private label food items.
Wal-Mart Mexico continues to have solid sales growth, with total sales in
the low teens and comparable store sales in the mid-single digits, both in
nominal terms. These results were driven by traffic in the self-service
formats, Bodega, Supercenter, Sam's Club and Superama. The Mexican consumer
continues to be cautious, causing average ticket to suffer from dampened
demand for high ticket items.
Guidance
"We believe our businesses are well positioned for the current economy,"
said Tom Schoewe, executive vice president and chief financial officer. "We
estimate U.S. comparable store sales, excluding fuel, for the August four-week
period to be between one and two percent, because we still see sales
volatility from week to week, especially around paycheck cycles."
The August four-week period runs from Aug. 2, 2008 through Aug. 29, 2008
and sales results will be reported Sept. 4. Additionally, Wal-Mart will
advance the day it reports September comparable store sales to Oct. 8 from the
previously announced Oct. 9, when Yom Kippur is observed this year.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Walmart discount stores, supercenters,
Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Club locations in the United States. The
Company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United
Kingdom and, through a joint venture, in India. The Company's common stock is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT. More information
about Wal-Mart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartstores.com. Online
merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and
http://www.samsclub.com.
Ed. Note: The terms "Wal-Mart" and "Wal-Mart Stores" refer to the
corporate entity. "Walmart," expressed as one word and without hyphenation,
refers to the brand name of the Company's U.S. operations. This distinction
came after the Company announced the introduction of a new logo for its U.S.
store operations in June.
This release contains statements that Wal-Mart believes are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and that are intended to enjoy the
protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that
act. These forward-looking statements relate to our management's expectation
for Wal-Mart's total net sales to be reported for the second quarter ended
July 31, 2008 and its estimates for our comparable store sales in the United
States for the August four-week reporting period to end Aug. 29, 2008. These
statements are identified by use of the word "estimate" or "expects" in the
statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors, domestically and internationally, including
general economic conditions, the availability of consumer credit, consumer
spending patterns and debt levels, unemployment levels, fuel prices, inflation
levels, weather conditions, competitive pressures and other risks. The
Company discusses certain of these matters and other risk factors more fully
in its filings with the SEC, including its most recent annual report on Form
10-K filed with the SEC. This release should be read in conjunction with that
annual report on Form 10-K and certain other Company filings with the SEC
through the date of this release. The Company urges you to consider all of
these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating the
forward-looking statements made in this release and not to place undue
reliance on such statements. As a result of these and other matters,
including changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other
circumstances, our actual results may differ materially from those discussed
in such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included
in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and we undertake
no obligation to update either of them to reflect subsequent events or
circumstances.
SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
