The world's largest retailer reported net profit in the quarter ended Jan. 31 rose to $4.096 billion, or $1.02 per share, from $3.94 billion, or 95 cents a share, a year earlier.
Stores in 13 countries outside the United States accounted for about 25 percent of total company sales in the fourth quarter, up from 23 percent a year earlier.
The most recent profit included a charge of 3 cents per share for dropped real estate projects and restructuring its Japanese operation as well as a 1 cent per share gain from real estate sales. Minus the charges, earnings would have been $1.04 per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected profit of $1.02 per share on revenue of $106.9 billion.
For the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, earnings were $12.73 billion, or $3.13 a share, up from $11.28 billion, or $2.71, a year earlier. Net sales rose 8.6 percent to $374.53 billion. Overall revenue rose to $378.80 billion from $348.65 billion a year ago.
Defying the gloom that many retailers are feeling, Wal-Mart expects a more profitable year selling to penny-pinching shoppers after its renewed focus on low prices paid off over the holidays with a 4 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit.
Emerging from a yearlong turnaround effort after sales stumbled in 2005 and 2006, Wal-Mart said yesterday that aggressive holiday discounts and improvements in its more than 4,000 US stores boosted sales despite consumer worries.
"No one has a crystal ball to look into the economic future, but we know the economy will be a critical factor this year," chief executive Lee Scott said in a recorded call after releasing results.
Scott said Wal-Mart's decision to reemphasize low prices last year came at the right time and added: "In a volatile economy, I believe we are well positioned to succeed."
Chief financial officer Tom Schoewe said Wal-Mart expects a spending boost as consumers receive income tax rebates under the economic stimulus plan.
"When those checks have been issued in the past, we've experienced [spending] either equal to or indexed a little bit higher than our overall market share," Schoewe said. "The customer is under pressure and they want to make that dollar last as long as they can."
Wal-Mart forecast earnings per share for the current fiscal year that ends Jan. 31, 2009 of $3.30 to $3.43, or growth of 4.4 to 8.5 percent compared to just over 8 percent in fiscal 2008. The analyst consensus for full-year earnings per share was $3.43, according to Thomson Financial.