Supermarket giant Walmart said that its fourth quarter profits would likely be lower than anticipated, citing store closures and tax contingencies in international markets, as well as slower-than-expected sales at US stores.
In relation to the US, it noted that a reduction in food stamp benefits and a wave of unusually cold weather in January sapped spending by its low-income customers.
January was unusually weak,” an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC told the Wall Street Journal. “The demand just wasn’t there and the weather exacerbated the situation.”
January is usually a month where retailers use deep discounts to clear goods that didn’t sell in November and December. But WSJ noted that shoppers already had a chance to snap up many of those bargains earlier in the season as retailers slashed prices to drive demand.
The Bentonville, Arkinsas.-based retailer will release earnings for the quarter ended 20 February.
Doug McMillon, formerly the head of Walmart International, formally assumed the post of Walmart CEO on 1 February, succeeding Mike Duke.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
