Costco May Sales Results

Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports May Sales Results

ISSAQUAH, WA, Jun 05, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network)

Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $5.77 billion for the month of May, the four weeks ended June 1, 2008, an increase of 12 percent from $5.14 billion in the same four-week period last year.
For the first thirty-nine weeks of its reporting period ended June 1, 2008, the Company reported net sales of $52.69 billion, an increase of 13 percent from $46.81 billion during the similar thirty-nine-week period last year.
Comparable sales for the four-week and thirty-nine-week periods ended June 1, 2008, were as follows:
-----------------4 Weeks-----39 Weeks

US-----------------7%------------6%
International----- 15%-----------17%
Total Company-----9%------------8%
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The U.S. comparable sales figure includes, among other things, the effect of gasoline price inflation, with the average sales price per gallon of gasoline up 19% for the four-week month of May, as compared to the year-earlier May. Excluding gasoline price inflation, U.S. comparable sales would have been up 5%. In addition, foreign exchange rates, primarily in Canada, positively impacted international comparable sales results. On a local currency basis, international comparable sales increased 8% in May.