US retail giant Wal-Mart has reported a 22% annual jump in its fourth-quarter net profit to $4.63 billion but its revenue was lacklustre.
Excluding certain once-off charges, Wal-Mart reported earnings of $1.17 per share, slightly higher than the $1.12 a share expected by most analysts for the quarter ending January 31.
But sales fell to $113.65 billion, below what most analysts had expected, reflecting the weakness of US consumer spending following a brutal recession.
Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer, procuring billions of dollars' worth of goods directly from China to maintain its competitiveness. It is also the biggest private employer in the US, with more than 1.4 million workers at home and more than two million globally.
