Costco same-store sales rise 9 percent in August

The company said same-store sales in the U.S. rose 9 percent and jumped 6 percent overseas during the month.

Costco said the results include the effect of gas price inflation. The average sales price per gallon was up 40 percent from the same period a year earlier, the company said.

Excluding the effect of higher gas prices, U.S. same-store sales rose 6 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones.

Total sales for the month climbed 12 percent to $5.41 billion from $4.84 billion in the year-ago period.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, same-store sales rose 9 percent overall while total sales climbed 12 percent to $22.6 billion from $20.09 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected sales of $22.94 billion for the quarter.

For the year, same-store sales rose 8 percent companywide and total sales jumped 12 percent to $70.95 billion from $63.09 billion in 2007. Analysts anticipated 2008 sales of $72.21 billion.

Costco plans to report its fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 financial results on Oct. 8.