Wal-Mart Announces Expansion Plans and Reaffirms E
Bentonville, Sept. 30--Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced the continuation of its aggressive unit growth for the fiscal year beginning February 1, 2004.
Domestically, the Wal-Mart division plans to open approximately 50 to 55 new discount stores and 220 to 230 new Supercenters. Relocations or expansions of existing discount stores will account for approximately 140 of the Supercenters, while the remainder will be built in new locations.
The Company will further expand its Neighborhood Market concept by adding approximately 25 to 30 new units in the upcoming fiscal year.
The SAM'S CLUB division will open 35 to 40 domestic clubs, approximately 20 of which will be relocations or expansions of existing clubs.
Wal-Mart International plans to open 130 to 140 units in existing markets. Relocations or expansion of existing stores will account for approximately 30 of these units, while the remainder will represent new operating units for the company.
The Company will construct 3 new regional general merchandise distribution centers and 2 new food distribution centers during the next fiscal year. Combined, these 5 DC's will add over 5 million square feet of distribution space.
The planned square footage growth for the coming year represents approximately 50 million square feet of new retail space, and represents more than an 8% increase over the estimated fiscal 2004 year end of 606 million square feet.
Lee Scott, President and CEO said, "We believe that the combination of square footage growth and same stores sales increases will allow us to achieve total shareholder return in the mid-term of 13 to 15 percent."
In conjunction with the analysts' meeting, the company also reaffirms its earnings guidance of $0.45 to $0.47 per share from continuing operations for the 3rd quarter. Earnings are currently tracking in the middle of that range.
As of August 31, 2003, the Company had 1,494 Wal-Mart stores, 1,386 Supercenters, 532 SAM'S CLUBS and 56 Neighborhood Markets in the United States. Internationally, the Company operated units in Argentina (11), Brazil (24), Canada (214), China (29), Germany (92), South Korea (15), Mexico (611), Puerto Rico (52) and United Kingdom (261).
After consideration of stock options and debt securities that are convertible to common stock, Wal-Mart owns a 36% interest in Seiyu, Ltd. with warrants to purchase up to 66.7% of that company. Seiyu operates over 400 stores located throughout Japan.
Wal-Mart employs approximately 1.1 million associates in the United States and approximately 300,000 internationally. Its securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.
