Confident Wal-Mart raises January forecasts
December finishes on high note
Wal-Mart has raised its sales growth forecasts for January after seeing total sales growth of 13.4 per cent in December.
The world’s biggest retailer, which had to increase its promotional actvity in the US at the start of December after a subdued start to the holiday shopping period, has reported a 3 per cent increase in US same store sales for the five weeks to December 31, at the top end of its forecasts.
Broken down, the Wal-Mart chain saw a 2.6 per cent increase in same store sales, while the Sam’s Club warehouse chain grew by 5.4 percent. Wal-Mart is estimating same-store sales growth of 2 per cent to 4 per cent for January.
December saw total group sales increase by 13.4 per cent to $38.42 bn. US Wal-Mart stores saw a 12.1 per cent rise in sales to $26.18 bn, while Sam’s Club increased bu 7.8 per cent to $4.4bn.
International sales, which include Asda in the UK, increased by 21.3 per cent to $7.85bn in December.
