Posted on: Friday, February 18, 2005

Wal-Mart quarterly earnings rise 16.2%

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, announced yesterday it posted a 16.2 percent increase in profits for its fourth quarter, beating Wall Street expectations. Its earnings for the full year topped $10 billion for the first time.

Wal-Mart president and chief executive Lee Scott called it a solid performance but added "we can do better."

The Bentonville-based retailer earned $3.16 billion, or 75 cents a share, for the three months ended Jan. 31, up from $2.72 billion, or 63 cents a share, a year ago. Wal-Mart's overall revenue rose to $83.02 billion from $75.19 billion a year earlier.

The latest earnings results beat expectations of 74 cents per share by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

During the quarter, the company struggled with its early holiday sales and changed its advertising strategy after post Thanksgiving sales numbers were flat. Sales picked up after Wal-Mart cut prices on some select popular products and began advertising specific bargains, a shift from its emphasis on the overall shopping experience.

For the year, Wal-Mart earned $10.27 billion, or $2.41 a share, up from $9.05 billion, or $2.07 a share, a year earlier. The company had overall revenue of $288.19 billion for the year, up from $258.68 billion a year earlier. The company saw sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rise 1.5 percent in the quarter and 3.3 percent for the fiscal year.