Wal-Mart Sales

(Bentonville, AR) Wal-Mart Stores reported relatively weaker than projected net sales for the four-week and 17-week periods ending Jun. 1, 2007, and Jun. 2, 2006. For May, sales at the stores were stronger in grocery than general merchandise. Perishables had a solid performance and sales of live plants and lawn and garden items were up as customers focused on outdoor planting and landscaping. May sales at stores open at least one year rose 1.1%, excluding fuel. Including fuel, same-store sales rose 1.3%. Analysts, on average, had expected same-store sales to rise 1.4%. Total U.S. sales for the four weeks ended June 1 rose 7.7% to $28.26 billion. Apparel and home goods continue to be soft. Wal-Mart expects to see improvement beginning in the third quarter, but more significant progress is anticipated during the fourth quarter. The company continues to reinforce its price leadership position through print and electronic advertising. Beginning in mid-June, Wal-Mart and Sams Club will sell Dell Computer desktops in its stores and clubs across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Sams Clubs will carry a notebook computer as well. The Dell computer partnership follows previous announcements by the Company that its Wal-Mart U.S. stores now carry such quality electronics brands as Philips, Samsung, Skype and Vizio. Last week, the Company announced plans at its shareholders meeting to leverage capital resources by improving returns, productivity and sales within its U.S. stores. The plans include moderating the growth of its U.S. supercenters, as well as a new share repurchase program that increased the Companys authorization to $15 billion. (Copyright 2007 Newsroom Solutions, LLC)