Walmart posts 8.1 % increase in 1st quarter profits

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer has reported an 8.1 per cent increase in profits for the first quarter, which is rooted in strong overseas expansion, as well as stalwarts like sales of food and generic drugs.

The net income for this quarter was reported to be 2.83 billion dollars, or 68 cents a share, up from 2.62 billion dollars, or 63 cents a share, from last quarter.

Second-quarter profit is projected to be as much as 79 cents. And these profits are despite being affected by rising fuel prices, bad weather and a general US economic slowdown.

Despite the record profits, Walmart’s Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott seemed disappointed, stating that profits could have been better. He also outlined a strategy that would pushing the company’s low-cost food and prescriptions after a broadening of its product range, in introducing high-end and luxury items to attract a more affluent market segment,  produced dubious results. 

Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer with over 4,000 US outlets and 2,800 overseas including in South America, China, Japan and Britain.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Business News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.