6 January 2005 – Bentonville (AR): Wal-Mart has reported a 3 per cent rise in US comp sales in its most important month of December, which was at the top end of expectations.
Net sales for the five week period, ending 31 December, were at $38.42 billion, up 13.4 per cent from the previous year.
International sales increased by 21.3 per cent to $7.9 billion.
The retail giant put the increase down to a surge in post-Christmas shopping, after a slow beginning to the festive season, which forced the company to quickly launch a newspaper and television advertising blitz announcing sharp reductions.
Wal-Mart expects comp sales in January to increase by between 2 – 4 per cent.
