ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - Sep 29, 2015) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today announced its operating results for the 16-week fourth quarter and the 52-week fiscal year ended August 30, 2015.
Net sales for the fourth quarter were $34.99 billion, an increase of one percent from $34.75 billion in fiscal 2014. Net sales for the fiscal year were $113.67 billion, an increase of three percent from $110.21 billion last year.
Comparable sales were as follows:
| 16 Weeks | 52 Weeks | ||||
| U.S. | 2% | 3% | |||
| Canada | -10% | -5% | |||
| Other International | -7% | -3% | |||
| Total Company | -1% | 1% | |||
Comparable sales for these periods excluding the negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange were as follows:
| 16 Weeks | 52 Weeks | ||||
| U.S. | 6% | 6% | |||
| Canada | 7% | 8% | |||
| Other International | 6% | 6% | |||
| Total Company | 6% | 7% | |||
Net income for the fourth quarter was $767 million, or $1.73 per diluted share, compared to $697 million, or $1.58 per diluted share, last year.
Net income for this fiscal year was $2.38 billion, or $5.37 per diluted share, compared to $2.06 billion, or $4.65 per diluted share, last year. Net income this year was positively impacted by a $57 million ($.13 per diluted share) tax benefit in connection with a second-quarter special cash dividend received by the Company 401(k) plan participants.
Costco currently operates 686 warehouses, including 480 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 89 in Canada, 36 in Mexico, 27 in the United Kingdom, 23 in Japan, 12 in Korea, 11 in Taiwan, seven in Australia and one in Spain. The Company plans to open up to an additional 12 new warehouses (including one relocation) before the end of calendar year 2015. Costco also operates e-commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
A conference call to discuss these fiscal 2015 fourth quarter and year-end operating results is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (PT) tomorrow, September 30, 2015, and is available via a webcast on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and "Play Webcast").
Certain statements contained in this document 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 (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. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law.