Walamrt

Walamrt

Analysis of Wal-Mart Corporate Report

Almost 50 years ago, Sam Walton started Walmart with a single store in Rogers, Ark., on the premise of being dedicated to providing customers with a broad assortment of merchandise at great prices. Sam told Wal-Mart associates: “Customers are the reason why we’re in business. And when we exceed their expectations, we’re at our best.” From the day the doors opened in Rogers, on July 2, 1962, Wal-Mart’s operational culture has been built on a common purpose, which is its advertisement logo today: “saving people money so they can live better”. That one store changed the way that retail works in the business world, and that change continues to this day.
Today Wal-Mart operates more than 10,000 retail stores under 69 different store monikers in 27 countries around the world. The company has more than 2 million associates who accommodate more than 200 million customers and members every week.
Last year, Wal-Mart delivered a strong financial performance with a net sales increase of 5.9 percent to $443.9 billion. Overall operating income grew by 4 percent to more

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than $26.6 billion internationally. The company earnings per share were $4.54 per share, up from $4.18 the previous year and operating expenses were leveraged for two consecutive years. Shareholder returns were $11.3 billion through dividends and share repurchases.
Wal-Mart U.S. achieved positive comparable store sales for fiscal 2012, having an increase in customer traffic for the fourth quarter. Net sales surpassed $264 billion, increasing 1.5 percent, and operating income grew, boasting a 2.2 percent increase from the previous year to more than $20 billion.
Net sales, including currency and acquisitions, increased 15.2 percent to $125.9 billion for fiscal 2012. Operating income, increasing 10.8 percent from the prior year, was $6.2 billion. In fiscal 2012, this company opened a record 612 new stores through organic growth. Including acquisitions, we...