Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported a stronger-than-expected 4 percent rise in March sales at US stores open at least a year, helped by demand for Easter merchandise and food. But the world's largest retailer said that meeting its quarterly earnings forecast would be a challenge, given the tough sales outlook for April.
Wal-Mart said sales of grocery, or consumable, items, which tend to have low margins, were strong in March, while those of higher-margin goods like home and apparel, were soft. The March same-store sales gain of 4 percent beat analysts' expectation of a 1.9 percent increase, according to a Reuters survey, and its own forecast for a rise of 1 percent to 2 percent.
Same-store sales rose 3.4 percent at Wal-Mart stores and increased 7.4 percent at the Sam's Club warehouse chain. Produce, dairy and bakery were strong sellers at Wal-Mart stores, while food, consumables and electronics sold well at Sam's Club, the company said.
For April, Wal-Mart said it expected US same-store sales to be flat to down 2 percent, citing the timing of the Easter holiday. Wal-Mart warned that meeting its quarterly profit forecast of 68 cents to 71 cents per share from continuing operations would be difficult.
Comments
Comments are closed.