The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, today (Tuesday) reported a 9 per cent rise in third-quarter profits thanks to strong sales overseas and despite weak sales at home.
Profits for the quarter ended October 31 rose to US$3.44bn compared with US$3.15bn for the prior year period.
In a statement, Wal-Mart said US net sales of US$62.2bn were relatively flat when compared to the same period last year, while Walmart International sales rose 9.3 per cent to US$26.9bn.
During the 13-week period, Wal-Mart saw a 1.3 per cent drop in US same-store sales. Meanwhile, Mexico and Brazil continued to contribute strong sales, and Japan and China had solid sales growth, the retailer said. Its UK business, Asda, said it would be creating 7,500 new jobs next year.
'Our international business continues to deliver impressive results, with sales up more than nine per cent,' Mike Duke, Wal-Mart Stores president and CEO said.
The company added almost 10m ft2 of retail space this quarter, with 37 per cent of the area growth came from investments abroad.
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