by Savyata Mishra and Siddharth Cavale

(Reuters) – Walmart noted its sales and profits objectives for the current financial year, citing a high demand from consumers of all income levels on Thursday, despite price increases related to customs duties.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the action lost 2.8% before the bell, the American distribution giant having missed estimates for its profit per share adjusted for the first time in 13 quarters.

The Target action, its main competitor, lost 9.42% Wednesday after the publication of its results and the maintenance of its annual forecasts.

The Bentonville -based channel in Arkansas now expects annual sales to increase by 3.75% to 4.75%, against a previous range between 3% to 4%. The profit adjusted by share should be between 2.52 and 2.62 dollars (2.16 to 2.25 euros), against a previous range of 2.50 to 2.60 dollars.

However, the quarterly adjusted benefit emerged at 68 cents per share, compared to 74 cents expected on average by analysts.

Average cash expenditure increased by 3.1%, compared to 0.6% last year, while Walmart had warned that the group would increase its prices this summer to compensate for customs duties on certain products imported into the United States.

Two-thirds of sales in the United States being made up of national products, according to the declarations of leaders in the last quarter, the group was able to protect itself from customs duties compared to its competitors.

The largest retailer in the world recorded a turnover of $ 177.4 billion, while analysts were tabling out of 176.16 billion according to LSEG consensus.

Total comparable sales in the United States increased by 4.6%, exceeding the estimates of analysts that tapped over +3.8%. Global online sales have also jumped 25% during the quarter.

(Written by Savyata Mishra in Bangalore and Siddharth Cavale in New York; Coralie Lamarque; edited by Augustin Turpin)

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