Costco Reports Strong Sales Gains In Q1

Fiscal year first quarter sales at Costco were up more than 7% as the club retailer also reported strong comparable store gains.

For the quarter ending November 24, total sales were $60.99 billion, up 7.5% from sales of $56.72 billion in the comparable quarter the previous year. Net income for the quarter was $1.9 billion, or $4.04 per diluted share, compared to net income of $1.6 million, or $3.58 per diluted share, in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

When excluding the impact of changes in gas prices and foreign exchange, company-wide comparable store sales were up 7.1%. By division, comparable store sales in the U.S. were up 7.2%, up 6.7% in Canada, and up 7.1% in Other International. E-commerce comparable sales were up 13.2%.

Costco currently operates 897 warehouses, including 617 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 109 in Canada, 41 in Mexico, 36 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 19 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, five in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.