Costco sales are up 15% in the last quarter

Comparable sales in stores or digital channels that have been operating for at least 12 months increased by 12.9% in the February quarter, excluding the impact of gasoline sales and currency movements. The retailer’s e-commerce sales increased by 74.8% compared to the previous year, adjusted.

The average ticket size increased by 11.9% for the entire company.

The company faced some supply chain challenges in the quarter over the lack of containers and delays in ports, leading to delays in furniture, sporting goods and miscellaneous items such as seafood, imported cheeses and oils.

“We expect these pressures to ease in the coming months, but it will have an impact on everyone,” Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said on Thursday. The cost to the company for each shipping container is 10% to 15%, Mr Galanti estimated in the call.

Overall, the company said it has some pressure to keep shelves stocked with electronics, such as TVs, computers and smart home appliances, due to a lack of chips and canned beverages due to a lack of aluminum.

The quarterly results included a strong period in December. The company’s net sales for the five-week period ended Jan. 3 rose 12 percent to $ 19.14 billion from a year ago.

Retailers, including Walmart Inc.

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TGT -2.18%

In general, they have done well against the background of the coronavirus crisis, selling items that pandemic-tired shoppers buy more, such as food and household items. In general, large retailers and grocers remained open throughout the pandemic, avoiding early lockouts.

Costco posted a profit of $ 951 million, or $ 2.14 per share, for the quarter, up from $ 931 million or $ 2.10 per share, compared to the same period last year. Analysts were targeting $ 2.45 per share. This included $ 246 million in pretax costs primarily related to premium wages paid during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

The company has increased its wages for its US workers to at least $ 16 an hour starting this month. Costco has paid a lot of time to store workers more than most competitors, in part to reduce revenue as part of its low-cost operating model. His minimum wage in the US was $ 15 an hour, the same as his initial salary on Amazon.com Inc.

and target. Costco has approximately 180,000 full-time and part-time employees in the United States.

Costco said it spent about $ 1.1 billion on Covid-19 spending between March last year and February this year, with most going to a $ 2 hourly wage increase for store workers, Galanti said. . In the future, with continued wage growth, spending of about $ 1 billion will drop to about $ 500 million for the current year, he said.

Write to Kimberly Chin at [email protected]