Walmart Reports Same-Store Sales Growth

Walmart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) reported net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009 were $107.9 billion, an increase of 1.7 percent from $106.2 billion in the fourth quarter last year. For the fiscal year, net sales were $401.244 billion, an increase of 7.2 percent over fiscal year 2008.

“Our performance relative to competitors was exceptionally strong in the fourth quarter and throughout the year. We expect this momentum to continue,” says Mike Duke, Walmart Stores president and ceo. “We finished the year with a strong balance sheet, record free cash flow of $11.6 billion and great inventory management.”

On a comparable store sales basis, Walmart says sales without fuel rose 2.8 percent for the three months ended Jan. 31, 2009, compared to 1.7 percent during the same period in 2008. For the twelve months ended January 31, total U.S. comparable store sales (without fuel) rose 3.3 percent. The company said it expects U.S. comparable sales without fuel during the period from Jan. 31 to May 1, 2009, to increase between one and three percent.

The world’s largest retailer also reported that it created approximately 63,000 jobs worldwide in 2008, including more than 33,000 in the U.S.