For the fiscal month of April, Costco Wholesale Corp. posted net sales of $23.92 billion, up from $21.18 billion a year earlier.
Traffic for the month gained 3.8% in the U.S., Costco noted in a conference call. The strongest performing regions in the U.S. were the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast.
By merchandise category, Non-foods sales increased in the mid- to high-single digits, with home furnishings, jewelry and tires performing strongly. Food and Sundries sales increased in the mid-single digits, while Fresh Foods sales advanced in the high-single digits.
The fiscal month of April, which ended May 3, had one additional shopping day versus the year-earlier period due to the calendar shift of Easter, Costco stated, which boosted total and comparable sales by about 1.5% to 2%.
Costco operates 928 warehouse clubs, including 637 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 115 in Canada, 42 in Mexico, 37 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 20 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, five in Spain, three in France, two in Sweden, and one each in Iceland and New Zealand. Costco operates e-commerce websites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.
