NEW YORK: US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported slightly higher quarterly sales on Thursday and said better-than-expected earnings reflected the benefits of heavy investment to boost worker salaries and improve the shopping experience.
However, executives described US consumers as still cautious and acknowledged that steep investments in e-commerce have yet to pay off. The world’s largest retailer reported US$115.9 billion in sales for its first quarter, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier.
However, net income fell 7.8 percent to US$3.1 billion. Wal-Mart expects the solid performance to continue in the second quarter, projecting per-share earnings to be between US$0.85 and US$1.08.
