Big one-off restructuring costs
Wal-Mart said its international division has been hit by problems at Asda. The world's leading retailer said that growth at Asda stores open for at least a year were essentially flat in its second-quarter. Sales growth for the UK subsidiary was in the low single digits.

Wal-Mart also revealed that Asda incurred a US$36 million (£19.9 million) restructuring charge from a move to restructure its management staff and create more shopfloor roles. The UK is understood to account for more than 20 per cent of Wal-Mart's international sales.

As a whole, the group's second-quarter earnings rose 5.8 per cent to US$2.8 billion (£1.55 million) on a sales increase of 10.2 per cent to US$76.8 billion (£42.39 billion).

However, Wal-Mart president Lee Scott raised concerns over the rise in fuel prices, which he said could have an impact on the retailer's core, lower-income customers, for whom fuel is a large portion of their disposable income. The retailer experienced a US$30 million (£16.6 million) increase in distribution costs and an increase of $100 million (£55.2 million) in utilities costs during the quarter as a result of record oil prices in recent months.

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