Costco Wholesale Corp the Issaquah, Wash., warehouse retailer, reported that for March, same-store sales rose 7%.

A survey of analysts by Thomson Financial produced a consensus estimate of a rise of 5.9% for the month.

Costco reported that same-store sales, those from outlets open at least a year to eliminate the effect of acquisitions and divestitures, rose 5% in the U.S. and 17% elsewhere. Total sales for the March period rose 11% to $6.57 billion from $5.93 billion in the year-earlier period