Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $7.55 billion for the month of December, an increase of 10% from $6.84 billion in the same five-week period last year.
Comparable sales for the five-week and eighteen-week periods ended January 6, 2008, were as follows:
5 Weeks 18 Weeks
——- ——–
US 5% 5%
International 16% 17%
Total Company 7% 8%
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The U.S. comparable sales figure includes, among other things, the effect of recent gasoline price inflation, with the average sales price per gallon of gasoline up 27% for the five-week month of December. Excluding gasoline price inflation, U.S. comparable sales would have been up 4%. In addition, foreign exchange rates, particularly in Canada and the U.K., positively impacted international comparable sales results. On a local currency basis, international comparable sales increased 5% in December.
