17 February 2005 – Bentonville (AK): Wal-Mart has reported that its Q4 profits surged 16 per cent thanks to the company’s recent widespread discount strategy, which helped it offset sales weaknesses in the Thanksgiving holiday season.
The retail giant posted net income of $3.16 billion, or EPS of $0.75 in the quarter ending 31 January, from $2.72 billion, or EPS of $0.63 a year ago.
Revenue rose 10 per cent to $83.02 billion from $75.19 billion. While same-store sales in the US rose 1.5 per cent.
For the full year, Wal-Mart earnings crossed the $10 billion benchmark for the first time reaching $10.27 billion from $9.05 million in 2003. Revenue rose 11 per cent to $288.19 billion.
"It was a solid performance, but we can do better," said Wal-Mart president/CEO Lee Scott. "We were not aggressive enough in our merchandising plan. We would have been better off if we had traded lower markdowns for sales."
