New York: US retail giant Walmart saw profits take a hit, but earnings beat analysts’ expectations and total sales rose, according to results released on Thursday.
Net income was down $905 million from the same period last year at $2.134 billion.
But the key earnings per share measure was $1.14, two cents higher than expected. And net sales, at $121.6 billion, were up 4.4 per cent over the same period last year — more than $1 billion higher than expectations.
The decrease in net income is primarily due to a change in accounting policy related to Walmart’s 2016 equity investment in Chinese online distributor JD.com, of which Walmart holds a little more than 10 per cent.
In its guidance, the company cautioned that the recent purchase of Indian online marketplace Flipkart announced earlier this month, is expected to negatively impact earnings per share in the current fiscal year by $0.25 to $0.30 if the transaction closes at the end of the second quarter.
Walmart, which is trying to compete with online giant Amazon, saw comparable store sales rise 1.2 per cent and customer traffic increase 0.8 per cent, although the unseasonably cold weather hurt sales in the US.
US sales rose 2.1 per cent, while international sales jumped 4.5 per cent, while US online sales surged 33 per cent.
“We are changing from within to be faster and more digital, while shaping our portfolio of businesses for the future,” Walmart chief Doug McMillon said in a statement.
Following the release, the company’s stock was up more than two per cent in pre-market trading to $87.85. — AFP
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