After an unexpectedly good second quarter, the largest US retailer Walmart is expecting even better business for the year as a whole. Currency-adjusted sales in the 2023 financial year are likely to grow by 4 to 4.5 percent, as the company announced in Bentonville on Thursday. So far, the group had expected an increase of around 3.5 percent. Earnings per share should also jump out more, before special items it should be between 6.36 and 6.46 US dollars instead of only between 6.10 and 6.20 dollars. The stock rose nearly 2 percent in premarket US trading. Analysts had expected less good results for the second quarter. Walmart had already increased its annual targets after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, sales rose 5.7 percent year-on-year to $161.6 billion. On a like-for-like basis, US revenue excluding fuel sales increased 6.4 percent.
The bottom line is that net income rose by more than half to $7.9 billion. The big plus was mainly due to income from investments. Excluding special items, earnings per share rose 4 percent to $1.84. Experts had expected $1.70. (dpa)