WMT Walmart Inc

By Anthony Harrup

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's biggest retailer Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB reported a 10% rise in third-quarter net profit on higher sales and operating gains.

Walmex, as the unit of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc. is called, made a net profit of 12.15 billion Mexican pesos ($608 million) in the July-September period, compared with 11.05 billion pesos in the year-earlier quarter.

Sales rose 12.4% to 197.89 billion pesos, with same-store sales - which only include store thaht have been open at least a year - up 11.1% in Mexico and 14.4% in Central America. Overall average ticket increased 6.2% and customer traffic was up 5.2%.

Walmex's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of profitability, rose 5.6% to 21.1 billion pesos.

"Macro conditions continued to be challenging in the quarter, and the high level and persistence of inflation are affecting our customers, especially the most price-sensitive ones," Walmex Chief Executive Guilherme Loureiro said in a webcast presentation.

He said some customers were opting for smaller package sizes, or making more frequent trips to stores, affecting average ticket growth. The higher inflation also fueled sales of private brand products, he added.

Consumer price inflation in Mexico is at its highest level in more than two decades, and averaged 8.5% in the third quarter.

Write to Anthony Harrup at anthony.harrup@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 20, 2022 19:30 ET (23:30 GMT)

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