Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports June Sales Results

ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - Jul 10, 2014) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $10.89 billion for the month of June, the five weeks ended July 6, 2014, an increase of ten percent from $9.91 billion during the similar five-week period last year. Both years' five-week periods included 34 selling days in Canada and the U.S., reflecting the observance of Canada Day and Independence Day (U.S.), respectively.

For the forty-four weeks ended July 6, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $92.88 billion, an increase of seven percent from $87.04 billion during the similar period last year.

Comparable sales for the five and 44-week periods were as follows:

Inflation in gasoline prices had a positive impact on comparable sales for the five-week period, but a negative impact for the forty-four week period; foreign currencies had a negative impact for both periods. Excluding these effects, comparable sales were as follows:

Additional discussion of these sales results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (conference ID 96619833). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, July 11, 2014.

Costco currently operates 658 warehouses, including 465 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 87 in Canada, 33 in Mexico, 25 in the United Kingdom, 20 in Japan, 11 in Korea, 10 in Taiwan, six in Australia and one in Spain. The Company plans to open up to an additional five new warehouses prior to the end of its fiscal year on August 31, 2014. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

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, amounts expected to be spent on expansion plans, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (including health care costs), energy, and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.