Walmart: profit rises on record sales
(CercleFinance.com) - Walmart said its profit rose 3% in its fiscal fourth quarter on record sales, as consumers increasingly shopped online due to the pandemic.
For the three months ended 31 January, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart reported operating profit of 5.5 billion dollars, compared with 5.3 billion dollars a year ago.
Revenue rose 7% to a record 152.1 billion dollars, from 141.7 billion dollars in the previous year, as sales at its US stores that have been open for at least a year - an important benchmark in the retail industry - rose 8.6%.
US e-commerce sales jumped 69% in the quarter, the discount giant said.
For the current fiscal year, Walmart expects that its net sales, operating profit and EPS will decline, primarily due to the impact of its planned divestments.
The company also said it plans to invest nearly 14 billion dollars over the current fiscal year to build supply chain capacity and automation to increase productivity.
Walmart said it approved an annual cash dividend of 2.20 dollars per share, representing an increase of approximately 2% from the 2.16 dollars paid over the previous fiscal year.
Its board of directors also approved a new 20 billion dollar share buyback program.
Despite all these announcements, the shares were trading down over 4% in pre-market trading.
Copyright (c) 2021 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.
For the three months ended 31 January, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart reported operating profit of 5.5 billion dollars, compared with 5.3 billion dollars a year ago.
Revenue rose 7% to a record 152.1 billion dollars, from 141.7 billion dollars in the previous year, as sales at its US stores that have been open for at least a year - an important benchmark in the retail industry - rose 8.6%.
US e-commerce sales jumped 69% in the quarter, the discount giant said.
For the current fiscal year, Walmart expects that its net sales, operating profit and EPS will decline, primarily due to the impact of its planned divestments.
The company also said it plans to invest nearly 14 billion dollars over the current fiscal year to build supply chain capacity and automation to increase productivity.
Walmart said it approved an annual cash dividend of 2.20 dollars per share, representing an increase of approximately 2% from the 2.16 dollars paid over the previous fiscal year.
Its board of directors also approved a new 20 billion dollar share buyback program.
Despite all these announcements, the shares were trading down over 4% in pre-market trading.
Copyright (c) 2021 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.