Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports April Sales Results


ISSAQUAH, Wash., May 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:COST) today reported net sales of $10.81 billion for the retail month of April, the four weeks ended May 6, 2018, an increase of 13.1 percent from $9.56 billion last year. For the thirty-five weeks of fiscal year 2018 ended May 6, 2018, the Company reported net sales of $92.24 billion, an increase of 12.2 percent from $82.24 billion last year.

This year’s four-week April retail month had one additional shopping day versus last year, due to the calendar shift of Easter. This positively impacted total and comparable April sales by an estimated one and one half to two percent.

Comparable sales were as follows:

                     
  4 Weeks 35 Weeks
  Retail Month Fiscal Year
 U.S.10.2% 8.9%
 Canada14.0% 10.1%
 Other International11.2% 13.3%
     
 Total Company10.9% 9.6%
  

E-commerce
 

43.1%
  

34.9%
     

Comparable sales excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange were as follows:

                   
  4 Weeks 35 Weeks
  Retail Month Fiscal Year
 U.S.7.9% 7.3%
 Canada6.0% 3.6%
 Other International6.3% 7.7%
     
 Total Company7.3% 6.8%
  

E-commerce
 

41.5%
  

33.5%
     

Additional discussion of these results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. It can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (conference ID 73993239) This message will be available through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.

Costco currently operates 749 warehouses, including 519 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 98 in Canada, 38 in Mexico, 28 in the United Kingdom, 26 in Japan, 14 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, nine in Australia, two in Spain, one in Iceland and one in France. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea and Taiwan.

Certain statements contained in this document and the pre-recorded telephone message constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future.  Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, capital spending, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (generally including health care costs), energy and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions (including tariffs), and other risks identified from time to time in the Company’s public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.

CONTACTS: Costco Wholesale Corporation
David Sherwood, 425/313-8239
Josh Dahmen, 425/313-8254