SEATTLE – Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday that its fiscal first-quarter profit grew 12 percent, helped by growth at its warehouse clubs open at least a year.
For the 12 weeks ended Nov. 20, the nation’s largest wholesale club operator reported quarterly earnings of $215.8 million, or 45 cents a share, up from $193.2 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest quarter included a charge of about 1 cent a share from damage done by Hurricane Wilma in Florida, while the prior year’s results included a 1 cent-a-share charge from four hurricanes in Florida.
The Issaquah-based company said net sales for the quarter increased 12 percent, to $12.66 billion from $11.34 billion last year, with sales up 9 percent at warehouses open at least a year.
Total revenue, which includes membership fees, rose to $12.93 billion from $11.58 billion in the year-ago period.
In a conference call, Costco chief financial officer Richard Galanti said the retailer was particularly pleased with consumer electronics sales.
“The business is on fire,” he said, adding that Web site sales are also “going great guns.”
Costco’s profit met analysts’ estimate of 45 cents a share, and was above expectations for $12.82 billion in revenue, according to a Thomson Financial poll. The company had not provided specific guidance, but it said in October that analysts’ estimates were at the high end of what it expected to earn.
In the conference call, Galanti would not specify whether the company might increase its $45 annual membership fee in response to competitors’ moves. Sam’s Club, a unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., will raise its fees by $5, to $40 for consumers and $35 for businesses, effective Jan. 1. BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. also plans to raise its membership fee to $45 early next year.
“At some point, I think we will change it. It’s not necessarily going to be Jan. 1 or Jan. 2, but it’s not necessarily going to be a year from now, either. We haven’t made any decisions yet,” Galanti said.
Galanti did say, however, that the company has traditionally raised its membership fees in $5 increments and “logic would say” the annual fee would reach $50 at some point.
Costco shares fell $1.06, or 2.2 percent, to close at $48.29 Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In the last 52 weeks, shares have traded between $39.48 and $51.21.
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