U.S. warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale posted a better-than-expected 8 percent rise in January sales at stores open at least a year, helped by higher gasoline prices.
A Costco employee pulls shopping charts at a Costco Wholesale store.
Damian Dovarganes
Net sales at Issaquah, Washington-based Costco rose 11 percent to $7 billion in the five weeks to Jan 29.
Analysts were expecting same-store sales to rise 6.1 percent, including the impact of fuel prices, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Excluding the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable January same-store sales were up 8 percent, Costco said.