Walmart 2005 Annual Report Download - page 14

Fiscal Years Ended January 31,
(In Millions Except Per Share Data) 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Net Sales $285,222 $256,329 $229,616 $204,011 $180,787
Cost of Sales $219,793 $198,747 $178,299 $159,097 $140,720
Net Income $ 10,267 $ 9,054 $ 7,955 $ 6,592 $ 6,235
Diluted Earnings Per Share $ 2.41 $ 2.07 $ 1.79 $ 1.47 $ 1.39
Long-term Debt $ 20,087 $ 17,102 $ 16,597 $ 15,676 $ 12,489
Return on Assets(1) 9.3% 9.2% 9.2% 8.4% 8.6%
Return on Shareholders’ Equity(2) 22.1% 21.3% 20.9% 19.4% 21.3%
(1) Income from continuing operations before minority interest divided by average assets.
(2) Income from continuing operations divided by average shareholders’ equity.
Financial Highlights
Wal-Mart also returned to our shareholders more
than $6.7 billion, in the form of more than $2.2 billion in
dividends and more than $4.5 billion in share repurchase.
Outstanding Growth Prospects
In the coming year, we plan to open as many as 530 new
stores. This includes adding up to 250 more Supercenters,
45 new Discount Stores, 40 new SAM’S
CLUBS® and 30 new Neighborhood
Markets in the United States. Interna-
tionally, our plan is to open as many
as 165 new locations. Combined, these
new stores will represent more than
an eight percent square footage growth
or, put another way, the addition of
approximately 55 million square feet of new retail space,
and this does not include the square footage of our
distribution centers.
Our ability to add successfully this many stores to
our business, year after year, is one of Wal-Mart’s most
significant achievements and core strengths. Yet, even
internally, we sometimes take this accomplishment
for granted since we do it with such apparent ease. In
fact, this is not as easy as it looks, but we hope it is a
unique and special capability that you take pride in as
a Wal-Mart shareholder.
As part of this growth, we are making a concerted
effort to work more collaboratively with our communities.
This includes being more flexible with city leaders on our
individual store designs, and making sure we are a good
local citizen as we open new stores. Last year in the U.S.,
for example, Wal-Mart donated more than $170 million to
local community organizations and causes, making us the
largest cash contributor to charity in corpo-
rate America.
However, if we can put all the big
numbers aside for a moment, one of the
most exciting aspects about Wal-Mart
today is how much room we have yet to
grow, both in the U.S. and around the
world, and how much career opportunity
we are creating for our associates as we grow.
For example, even with the size and success we have
achieved, today Wal-Mart has earned less than three
percent of the global retail market share. In other words,
about 97 percent of the retail business around the world
is not being done at Wal-Mart today.
In the U.S. alone, we estimate there is room for almost
4,000 more Supercenters. In some areas, we locate new
stores close to existing stores, a fact some have questioned.
We take this approach in growing markets for several
reasons. First, as the market continues to grow, we are
“ As we look back on last year
and reflect on the overall perfor-
mance of our company, we hope
one thing is crystal clear to you as
a shareholder: Wal-Mart’s health
and future growth prospects have
never been stronger.”
12 WAL-MART 2005 ANNUAL REPORT