Costco sales up 15% in the most recent quarter

Comparable sales, in stores or digital channels operating for at least 12 months, increased by 12.9% during the February quarter, excluding the impact of petrol sales and currency movements. The retailer’s e-commerce sales, as adjusted, increased by 74.8% from the previous year.

The average ticket size increased by 11.9% with the whole company.

The company experienced some challenges in the supply chain during the quarter in terms of container shortages and delayed ports, which led to delays in furniture, sporting goods and miscellaneous items such as seafood, imported cheeses and oil.

“We expect the pressure to ease in the coming months, but it affects everyone,” CFO Richard Galanti said on Thursday in a call with analysts. The cost to the company per shipping container has increased by 10% to 15%, Galanti estimated on the call.

Overall, the company said it has been under some pressure to keep shelves with electronics, such as TVs, computers and smart devices, due to a shortage of chips, and with canned beverages due to aluminum shortages.

The results for the quarter included a strong December period. The company’s net sales for the five-week period ended January 3 increased by 12% to $ 19.14 billion from a year ago.

Big-box retailers, including Walmart Inc.

and Purpose Corp.

TGT -2.18%

has generally fared well amid the coronavirus crisis, selling items that pandemic buyers buy more of, such as food and household items. In general, large retailers and groceries remained open throughout the pandemic, avoiding early closures.

Costco posted $ 951 million or $ 2.14 per share for the quarter, compared to $ 931 million, or $ 2.10 per share, in a comparable period last year. Analysts have targeted $ 2.45 per share. This included $ 246 million in pre-tax costs, mainly related to premium wages paid during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the quarter, the company reported sales, general and administrative expenses of $ 4.34 billion, up 16% from a year earlier.

The company began raising its wages for its U.S. workers this month to at least $ 16 an hour. Costco pays its store workers far more than most competitors, in part to reduce turnover as part of its low-cost operating model. The US minimum wage was $ 15 per hour, the same as the starting wage at Amazon.com Inc.

and Purpose. Costco has approximately 180,000 U.S. full-time and part-time employees.

According to Costco, they spent about $ 1.1 billion on Covid-19 spending between March last year and February this year, with the majority boosting $ 2 per hour for store workers, he said. Galanti said. With the permanent wage increase in the future, spending will drop from about $ 1 billion for the current year to about $ 500 million, he said.

Write to Kimberly Chin by [email protected]