Comp-store sales (excluding fuel) rose 1% at Wal-Mart stores and3.9% at Sam's Club for an overall 1.5% increase in the US.Halloween sales were particularly strong, with comp-store sales up5%, reported Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and CEO of theWal-Mart Stores division. But comps in China rose 45% in thequarter. "Wal-Mart is a growing business with a strong balancesheet," said Lee Scott, overall president and CEO. This week, thecompany will open its 3,000th international store, and variousmarkets in addition to China are performing well. Canadianexpansion is proceeding as scheduled, with the company on target tohave 31 superstores by the end of the fiscal year. Asda stores inthe United Kingdom are performing ahead of the market. Withoutcurrency adjustments, comp sales in Brazil and Central America areup 17%. Real comps in both markets are in the low singledigits.

Net sales for the third quarter were approximately $90.9billion, up 8.8% more than the third quarter of last year. Salesfor Wal-Mart Stores were $57.6 billion, up 6.4% from the previousyear. Sam's Club stores rose 6.1% to $10.8 billion, andinternational store sales were $22.4 billion, up 16.9%. Earningswere $2.9 billion, up from $2.6 billion last year.

The company operates Wal-Mart discount stores, supercenters,neighborhood markets and Sam's Club locations in the US. Thecompany operates under various banners in Argentina, Brazil,Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan,Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the UK.