Wal-Mart profit rises 22 percent for 4Q

NEW YORK (AP) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the recession's biggest beneficiaries, felt the pinch during the fourth quarter as quarterly sales fell at U.S. Wal-Mart stores for the first time.

Still, overseas growth and a concerted cost-cutting campaign pushed profit up 22 percent.

The discounter, which rode low prices to dominate U.S. retailing, faced tough price competition from rivals during the holidays. That contributed to a decline in customer counts and spending.

The company said that a key measure of sales showed its third consecutive quarterly decrease as it continues to grapple with deflation in groceries and electronics and a tough economy.

The company also offered a tepid earnings outlook, sending shares down 76 cents to $53.30 in midday trading.

The sales weakness at its namesake U.S. division is happening even as the discounter says it continues to benefit from affluent shoppers trading down to its stores, but the results show that keeping these new customers may prove more difficult when the economy rebounds.

Wal-Mart has promised investors that it plans to widen the price gap between itself and rivals as it cut costs and reinvests those savings to lower prices for shoppers, which in turn drives sales.

Wal-Mart earned $4.63 billion, or $1.21 per share, in the quarter ended Jan. 31. That compares with $3.8 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding a 10 cents-per-share tax benefit and a 4 cents-per-share charge related to several business restructurings, the company earned $1.17 per share.

The company says that total sales rose 4.4 percent to $113.6 billion. However, sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.6 percent. That's considered an important measure of a retailer's health.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of $1.12 per share on revenue of $114.4 billion.

Mike Duke, Wal-Mart's president and chief executive, said in a statement that he expects continued strong growth from its international business this year but that U.S. sales will be more challenging in the first quarter.

"We remain focused on growing top line sales and expect improvement in the U.S. as the year progresses," he said.

Wal-Mart's U.S. division had a 0.5 percent decline in total sales to $70.97 billion in the quarter; Sam's Club sales increased 3.8 percent to $12.28 billion. The company's international business enjoyed a 19.5 percent gain to $29.57 billion.

Greg Rossiter, a Walmart spokesman, said that it was the first time that Walmart's U.S. division had a decline in quarterly sales compared with the same period a year earlier.

Wal-Mart's U.S. division dragged down the company's sales at stores open at least a year. The namesake U.S. division suffered a 2 percent drop in the measurement, while Sam's Club had a 0.7 percent increase. That excludes sales from fuel. Analysts had expected sales at stores opened at least a year to be unchanged from a year ago.

Wal-Mart has been able to grab wealthier consumers trading down from higher-priced stores. But the discounter has also seen continued signs of financial strain among its core customers, noticing pronounced swings in spending between paycheck cycles even as the economy has show some improvements.

Schoewe told journalists that the company's core consumer continued to be "under pressure."

Renovations at its namesake U.S. stores also hurt business because of disruptions. Wal-Mart has been on a campaign to renovate its stores, making sweeping changes like decluttering its aisles and is on a campaign to renovate its stores

The discounter doesn't expect that sales at stores opened at least a year to get much better, estimating that sales at stores open at least a year will be anywhere from down 1 percent to up 1 percent at U.S. Walmart stores.

The company stopped reporting sales at stores open at least a year on a monthly basis last year.

Wal-Mart also said earnings for the first quarter would be in a range of 81 cents to 85 cents, on the light side of 85 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Wal-Mart, which generated a little more than $400 billion in sales in its latest fiscal year, is considered a key barometer of consumer spending, so economists closely monitor sales trends at the discounter that could indicate what kind of economic recovery the nation would face. Consumer spending - including such items as health care - accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

But the company has been focusing on cutting costs so that it can lower prices for shoppers. Wal-Mart said in January that it was realigning its U.S. operations in an effort to give more autonomy to executives in regional markets and reinvigorate U.S. growth.