Unofficial Numbers Make Wal-Mart World?s Largest

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its sales for 2001 were $219.06 billion, which would make it the largest company in the world.

The official numbers won’t be released until Feb. 19, but Wal-Mart revealed the annual total in a press release issued Feb. 7 concerning its January sales.

Wal-Mart said sales for the 52-week period, based on the “retail industry calendar,” were $219.06 billion, an increase of 13.9 percent over the $192.41 billion in the similar period in the prior year.

The retail industry calendar corresponds exactly with Wal-Mart’s fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31, said Tom Williams, a Wal-Mart spokesman.

This year, for the first time, Wal-Mart will pass Exxon Mobile Corp., which reported annual sales of $212.9 billion on Jan. 23.

The Bentonville-based retailer also revised expectations for fourth quarter earnings after reporting sales at stores open at least a year grew a healthy 8.3 percent in January.

Wal-Mart had forecast its sales growth in January would be at the upper end of a range of 4 percent to 6 percent.

In a recorded message, Wal-Mart also said it expects February same-store sales gains of 6 percent to 8 percent, an indication things are looking good for the beginning of new fiscal year.

The retailer said net sales in the four weeks ended Feb. 1 rose 13.8 percent to $15.40 billion from $13.53 billion in the comparable period a year ago.

At stores open at least a year, same-store sales at Wal-Mart discount stores rose 8.6 percent last month, while sales at its Sam’s Club warehouse units were up 7.0 percent.

Analysts estimated Wal-Mart’s fourth quarter earnings in a range of 48 cents to 50 cents with a mean at 48 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call, which tracks this data.