Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $7.24 billion for the month of December, the five weeks ended December 31, 2006, an increase of 14 percent from $6.37 billion in the same five-week period last year.
For the first eighteen weeks of its reporting period ended December 31, 2006, the Company reported net sales of $22.23 billion, an increase of 10 percent from $20.22 billion during the similar eighteen-week period of the prior year.
This year's five-week period included 34 days of sales compared to 33 days last year, reflecting the timing of the New Year's holiday. This shift impacted this year's total company comparable sales positively by approximately three percent.
Costco currently operates 504 warehouses, including 371 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 70 in Canada, 19 in the United Kingdom, five in Korea, four in Taiwan, five in Japan and 30 in Mexico. The Company also operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site.