BENTONVILLE, ARK. – The U.S. grocery business of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. benefitted from e-commerce activity and strong holiday sales in the third quarter ended Oct. 31.
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| Greg Foran, president and c.e.o. of Wal-Mart U.S. |
“In e-commerce, we made strides on deepening the digital relationship with our customers,” said Greg Foran, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., in a Nov. 17 earnings call. “This quarter, we accelerated our on-line grocery pick-up offering to 85 additional locations. We now have almost 140 locations across 25 markets that offer the customer the ability to order their groceries on-line and conveniently pick up at a time of their closing.”
Food saw strong topline results despite minimal inflation, he said.
“Momentum from a solid Labor Day weekend continued through to Halloween,” Mr. Foran said. “We are particularly pleased with the results in fresh, where we brought in new products, developed strong price leadership through strategic buys and promoted locally sourced and organic product.”
Wal-Mart continues to increase its on-line presence internationally as well.
“We continue to learn from our on-line grocery business in the U.K. as we test and roll out similar initiatives in Mexico and Canada and build a strong platform for growth in China,” said David Cheesewright, president and c.e.o. of Wal-Mart International.
Wal-Mart Stores reported net income of $3,304 million, or earnings per share of $1.03 on the common stock, in the third quarter, which was down 11% from $3,711 million, or earnings per share of $1.15, in the third quarter of the previous year. Currency negatively impacted earnings per share by 4c. Total revenues for the third quarter were $117,408 million, down 1.3% from $119,001 million in the previous year’s third quarter.
Net income of $10,120 million, or earnings per share of $3.14, for the nine-month period ended Oct. 31 was down 11% from $11,397 million, or $3.53 per share, during the same time period of the previous year. Total revenues for the nine months ended Oct. 31 were $352,463 million, down 0.5% from $354,086 million in the same time period of the previous year.
Wal-Mart expects earnings per share of $4.50 to $4.67 for the fiscal year, which would compare to $4.99 per share last year.
