In the last quarter of 2011, ending in January, Wal-Mart filed a 15% drop in earnings to 5,16 billion dollars (1,50 dollars per share), compared to 6,06 billion dollars in 2010 (1,70 dollars per share). The reduction in profits is due to the strong increase in investment to drive sales.
On the full year Wal-Mart recorded revenues of 443,9 billion, up 5,9% and operating profits up 4% to 26,6 billion. Yesterday's news that the retail distribution giant bought 51% of Yihaodian, the online supermarket in which it already owned a small share, to counter Amazon and Alibaba. A move that Wal-Mart strengthens in Chinese e-commerce to ride the boom of China's online shopping. On Wall Street, the stock dropped 3,91%.
