ISSAQUAH, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. here said sales and earnings increased for the year and fourth quarter ending Sept. 3.
ek fourth quarter.
Sales for the year increased 17.2% to $31.6 billion and net income jumped 58.9% to $631.4 million. Sales for the quarter were up 20.3% to $10.4 billion and net income climbed 30.7% to $200.2 million. The company said comparable warehouse sales, on a 53-week basis, rose 11% for the year and 9% for the quarter.
Net income for fiscal 1999 was impacted by two extraordinary charges: a $30 million after-tax provision in the fourth quarter for impaired assets and warehouse closing costs, and a onetime noncash after-tax charge of $118 million in the first quarter reflecting the cumulative effect of a change in the company's accounting for membership fees from a cash to a deferred method. Excluding the impact of the two charges, net income would have been up 16% for the year; excluding the impact of the fourth-quarter charge, net income for the quarter would have risen 9%.
Costco said it plans to open 17 to 18 new warehouses, including three relocations, before the end of calendar 2000. At the end of the fiscal year the company operated 335 warehouses worldwide, including 240 in the United States, 59 in Canada, 19 in Mexico, 10 in the United Kingdom, three in Korea, three in Taiwan and one in Japan.
