08/13/2009：盤前速遞 （WMT ER後盤前上漲）

08/13/2009：盤前速遞 （WMT ER後盤前上漲）

WMT Premarket trading @51.80 with volume 1.5M.
WMT 200SMA 50.90.
BAC +0.70->16.64 vol 12.5M.

ER sharply went down to 1007 after climbing as high as 1015 @ET 8:30AM.

Lower Sales & better than expected profit

Wal-Mart reports flat quarterly profits

By Andrea Felsted, Retail Correspondent

International operations helped Wal-Mart Stores navigate difficult conditions in its second quarter, but profits at the world’s biggest retailer were held back by the strength of the US dollar.

Walmart’s international sales at constant exchange rates rose 11.5 per cent to $28.2bn in the second quarter, driven by its UK arm Asda, which enjoyed like-for-like sales growth of 7.2 per cent.

But the strength of the dollar, which reduced the value of Walmart’s international sales, kept net income stable at $3.44bn.

Net sales in the three months ended July 31 also fell 1.4 per cent to $100.1bn on adverse currency movements. Walmart said that excluding these, net sales rose 2.7 per cent to $104.3bn.

US like-for-like sales fell 1.2 per cent in the 13 weeks to July 31.

Mike Duke, chief executive, said he was pleased with the performance, achieved in spite of “a sales environment more difficult than we expected”.

Earnings per share rose from 87 cents to 88 cents.

Asda, whose like-for-like sales growth was 7.9 per cent without adjusting for the timing of Easter, said it was continuing to win customers.

It noted that there was a sharp fall in food price inflation in the second quarter, which was now at its lowest level for two years. However, it saw food volumes accelerate over the same period.

A lower level of inflation in food prices, or food price deflation, is challenging for retailers, because they must sell more products to achieve the same level of sales.

Asda was also cautious about the outlook, in spite of research that showed average British families were £12 better off than a year ago.

“Consumers continue to be somewhat cautious, with many people choosing to use any extra money they have to pay down debt and save money. This is not going to be a straight line economic recovery,” said Judith McKenna, finance director at Asda.

Wal-Mart shares were up 1.68 per cent at $51.36 in pre-market trading in New York