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NEW YORK: Wal-Mart Stores, the world's biggest retailer, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday but expressed caution amid a struggling US economy.
Net income for the fiscal 2009 first quarter ended April 30 was 3.022 billion US dollars, an increase of 6.9 percent from the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, the Arkansas-based behemoth said in a statement.
Earnings per share (EPS) were 76 US cents, slightly better than analysts' consensus forecast of 75 US cents.
The earnings were at the high end of the forecast range announced by Wal-Mart on April 10, raising to 74-76 US cents a previous range of 70-74 US cents.
Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 were approximately 94.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 10.2 percent from the same period a year ago.
International sales were the primary driver, rocketing 22 percent higher. In the United States, Wal-Mart brand stores registered a gain of 6.6 percent, while its Sam's Club stores climbed 7.6 percent.
"For the second quarter of fiscal year 2009, we estimate the company's comparable-store sales increase in the United States to be between flat and two percent," said Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart executive vice president and chief financial officer.
The impact on Wal-Mart's same-store US sales from a federal 168-billion-US-dollar stimulus package to jump-start the economy, featuring tax rebates that began to be issued last month, is "currently difficult to quantify," he said.
Earnings per share in the second quarter are expected to be between 78 cents and 81 cents, he said. The forecast was more conservative than analysts' expectations of 81 cents.
Wal-Mart's stock, a component of the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 1.71 percent to 57.03 US dollars in late morning New York trade. - AFP/ac
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