US retail giant Wal-Mart has reported a 9% annual rise in quarterly underlying profit at its international businesses, outperforming its US operations thanks to strong growth in Britain, Mexico and Brazil.
The retailer, which serves over 100 million shoppers a year from over 8,000 stores in 15 countries, said international profits rose to $1.29 billion in the three months to the end of October. International sales were up 12.1% to $27.9 billion.
Wal-Mart, which employs more than two million people and has just under a quarter of its sales outside the US, reported a rise in quarterly group profit, but also warned that fourth-quarter earnings might miss estimates.
Overall profit for the third quarter rose to $3.23 billion, or 84 cents per share, from $3.14 billion, or 80 cents per share, a year earlier. The Q3 figures were slightly better than analysts had expected.
British unit Asda delivered a 5.6% rise in sales at stores open at least a year, excluding petrol and VAT sales tax, for the three months ended September 30.
