Wal-Mart bucks the crisis

Wal-Mart increased its sales by 7.2 per cent to US $ 401.2 bn in fiscal 2008/09 (ended 31 January). Like-for-like sales in the USA increased by 3.3 per cent, while sales abroad were up 9.6 per cent (exchange-rate-adjusted: 11.6 per cent) to US $ 98 bn. The operating profit of the world’s biggest retailer rose by 3.9 per cent.