BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores here last week said food sales at supercenters increased 23% over year-ago levels in the second quarter ended July 31. Same-store food sales were up in the high single digits.
mall businesses, helped drive sales and earnings growth in the quarter. "The repositioning worked better than we expected," said Lee Scott, president and chief executive officer, Wal-Mart, in a recorded teleconference.
Sales at Sam's Club rose 7.7% in the second quarter, to $8.55 billion, with comparable-store sales rising 3.6%. Operating profits were $309 million, up 12.8% over year-ago levels.
Sales at Wal-Mart stores in the United States, including discount stores, supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, increased 10.2% in the second quarter, to $42.57 billion. Operating profit totaled $3.32 billion, an increase of 9.3% over last year's second-quarter results.
International sales increased 18.8%, to $11.51 billion, and operating profit was up 18.9%, to $561 million, compared with year-ago results.
Wal-Mart's net income for the period rose 21%, to $2.44 billion, on a sales gain of 11.3%, to $62.64 billion. In the first half, net income increased 18%, to $4.3 billion, on a sales gain of 10.5%, to $119.35 million.
