Costco Wholesale Corp. said its fiscal first-quarter net income jumped 21 percent due to higher sales and membership fees at its warehouse clubs.
The Issaquah-based company Thursday reported net income of $193.2 million, or 40 cents a share, for the quarter ended Nov. 21, compared with $160.2 million, or 34 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Total revenue, including sales and membership fees, rose 10 percent to $11.58 billion from $10.52 billion. Net sales alone rose 10 percent to $11.34 billion, while membership fees grew 12 percent to $238.1 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were looking for earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $11.57 billion in the latest period.
Sales at warehouses open at least a year increased 7 percent.
Costco said its sales were reduced by the implementation of an Emerging Issues Task Force Issue which primarily affected its vendor coupon and rebate programs. The company said the issue reduced sales and merchandise costs by an equal amount, so profit was not affected.
Excluding the task force issue, first-quarter sales would have increased 11 percent compared with a year ago, while same-store would have grown by 8 percent.
Costco operates 449 warehouses in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Mexico.
