Costco Wholesale Corporation Reports July Sales Results

ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2013) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $7.87 billion for the month of July, the four weeks ended August 4, 2013, an increase of seven percent from $7.36 billion during the similar period last year.

For the forty-eight weeks ended August 4, 2013, the Company reported net sales of $94.91 billion, an increase of eight percent from $87.72 billion during the similar period last year.

Comparable sales for the four-week and 48-week periods ended August 4, 2013, were as follows:

For the four-week period, changes in gasoline prices had a positive impact while foreign exchange rates had a negative impact on comparable sales. These impacts were immaterial for the 48-week period. Excluding these effects, comparable sales were as follows:

Additional discussion of these results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. The recording can be accessed by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (conference ID 73980317). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on August 9, 2013.

Costco currently operates 632 warehouses, including 451 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 85 in Canada, 33 in Mexico, 25 in the United Kingdom, 17 in Japan, nine in Taiwan, nine in Korea and three in Australia. The Company plans to open up to an additional two new warehouses prior to the end of its fiscal year on September 1, 2013. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites, at www.costco.com (U.S.), www.costco.ca (Canada), and www.costco.co.uk (United Kingdom).

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, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, amounts expected to be spent on expansion plans, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (including health care costs), energy, and certain commodities, 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.