INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In August, Walmart posted its best quarterly United States sales growth in a decade.Walmart Inc lowered its earnings forecast for the year
on Tuesday to include the impact from its acquisition of Indian e-commerce company Flipkart, and said its e-commerce growth next year will
be slower than the current fiscal year.In May, Walmart acquired Flipkart for $16 billion, its largest-ever deal, in order to compete with
Amazon.com Inc in an important growth market.The retailer now expects to earn between $4.65 and $4.80 per share for fiscal 2019 from an
earlier forecast of $4.90 and $5.05 per share.Shares were down 2.5 percent at $91.5 in premarket trading.Walmart also expects a lower growth
rate of 35 percent for its online business in fiscal year 2020
Earlier this year, it said United States online sales were on track to surge 40 percent for the current year.In August, Walmart posted its
best quarterly United States sales growth in a decade and raised its full-year sales and profit outlooks, showing it could hold its own
against Amazon.The company has benefited from lower unemployment and tax cuts that have put more money in United States consumers' pockets
this year.For fiscal 2020, Walmart expects comparable sales growth of 2.5 percent to 3 percent and expects earnings to decline by a
low-single-digit percentage compared to fiscal 2019 on account of Flipkart.The retailer will address investors at its Bentonville, Arkansas
staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
