Costco Wholesale January Comparable Sales Up 5.2%

(RTTNews) - Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) reported its total comparable sales for the month of January 2019 increased 5.2 percent, with a 6.6 percent increase in U.S., a 2.9 percent decline in Canada, and Other International comparable sales rose 6.5 percent. E-commerce sales were up 22.1 percent.

Monthly , comparable sales excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices, foreign exchange and a previously disclosed accounting change concerning revenue recognition (ASC 606), were up 7.4 percent, with a 7.3 percent rise in U.S., a 4.6 percent increase in Canada, and 11.2 percent rise in Other International comparable sales. E-commerce sales were up 24.0 percent.

Net sales were $10.71 billion for the retail month of January, the four weeks ended February 3, 2019, an increase of 8.0 percent from $9.92 billion last year.

For the twenty-two weeks ended February 3, 2019, the Company reported net sales of $63.70 billion, an increase of 9.3 percent from $58.30 billion during the similar period last year.

Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year will occur in February same as last year; however, 11 days earlier this year. The holiday shift favorably impacted January's Other International sales by approximately 4.5% and Total Company sales approximately 0.5%. February sales will be adversely impacted accordingly.