Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) reported Wednesday that the company’s second quarter profit climbed 25 percent, citing overseas sales growth and increased gasoline prices, according to Associated Press.
Costco posted that its quarterly revenue rose 11 percent to $18.74 billion, compared to $16.84 billion last year, due to improved net sales and membership fee growth. The revenue performance beat Wall Street estimates of $18.56 billion.
A key sales figure rose 9 percent, mostly on higher gas prices and the weaker dollar. Excluding those two factors, sales at stores open at least a year increased by a much smaller 3 percent.
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Costco's same-store sales growth came mostly from its international sales, which climbed 26 percent. The U.S. figure rose a more modest 5 percent in the quarter. Removing higher gas prices and the softer dollar, the overseas sales figure climbed 10 percent while sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 2 percent.
The company's earnings grew to $299 million, or 67 cents per share, for its fiscal second quarter, compared to $239 million, or 55 cents per share, a year ago.
Quarterly results included a 3 cents-per-share charge related to an employee benefits change that will now allow some unused time off to be paid annually to the worker.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates usually remove one-time items, predicted a bigger profit of 72 cents per share.
Costco Wholesale runs 566 warehouses, including 413 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 77 in Canada, 32 in Mexico, 21 in the U.K., seven in Korea, six in Taiwan, nine in Japan and one in Australia.
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