4 Weeks 13 Weeks
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US 6% 6%
International 21% 17%
Total Company 9% 8%
======= =========
The U.S. comparable sales figure includes, among other things, the effect
of recent gasoline price inflation, with the average sales price per gallon
of gasoline up 35% year-over-year for the month of November. Excluding
gasoline price inflation, U.S. comparable sales in November would have been
4%. In addition, significantly stronger foreign exchange rates,
particularly in Canada and the U.K., positively impacted November's
international comparable sales results. On a local currency basis,
international comparable sales increased 7% in November.
The Company plans to release its operating results for the first quarter
(12 weeks) of its fiscal year 2008 ended November 25, 2007, on December
13th. A conference call to discuss these first quarter results is
scheduled for 8:00 a.m. (PT) that day and will be available via a webcast
on www.costco.com (click on Investor Relations and "Webcasts").
Costco currently operates 528 warehouses, including 388 in the United
States and Puerto Rico, 75 in Canada, 19 in the United Kingdom, five in
Korea, five in Taiwan, six in Japan and 30 in Mexico. The Company also
operates Costco Online, an electronic commerce web site, at www.costco.com
and at www.costco.ca in Canada. The Company plans to open one additional
new warehouse prior to the end of calendar year 2007 -- on Friday,
December 7th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Additional discussion of these sales results is available on a pre-recorded
telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-800-642-1687
(conference ID 17957258). This recorded message will be available today
through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, December 7, 2007.
Certain statements contained in this document and the pre-recorded
telephone message constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these
purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address
activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or
anticipates may occur in the future. Such forward-looking statements
involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or
performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and
international economic conditions including exchange rates, the effects of
competition and regulation, consumer and small business spending patterns
and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition, development,
ownership or use of real estate, actions of vendors, rising costs
associated with employees (including health care and workers' compensation
costs), rising costs associated with the acquisition of merchandise
(including the direct and indirect effects of the rising cost of
petroleum-based products and fuel and energy costs), geopolitical
conditions and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's
public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Contact Information: CONTACTS: Costco Wholesale Corporation Richard Galanti 425/313-8203 Bob Nelson 425/313-8255 Jeff Elliott 425/313-8264