ISSAQUAH, WA--(Marketwired - Aug 7, 2014) - Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COST) today reported net sales of $8.55 billion for the month of July, the four weeks ended August 3, 2014, an increase of nine percent from $7.87 billion during the similar four-week period last year. 

For the forty-eight weeks ended August 3, 2014, the Company reported net sales of $101.43 billion, an increase of seven percent from $94.91 billion during the similar period last year.

Comparable sales for the four and 48-week periods were as follows:

    4 Weeks   48 Weeks
         
U.S.   5%   5%
International   6%   3%
         
Total Company   5%   4%
         

Comparable sales for these periods, excluding negative impacts from gasoline price deflation and foreign exchange, were as follows:

    4 Weeks   48 Weeks
         
U.S.   5%   5%
International   7%   7%
         
Total Company   6%   6%
         

Additional discussion of these sales results is available in a pre-recorded telephone message. You can access the recording by dialing 1-855-859-2056 (conference ID 96621009). This message will be available today through 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, August 8, 2014.

Costco currently operates 660 warehouses, including 466 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 88 in Canada, 33 in Mexico, 25 in the United Kingdom, 20 in Japan, 11 in Korea, 10 in Taiwan, six in Australia and one in Spain. The Company plans to open up to an additional three new warehouses prior to the end of its fiscal year on August 31, 2014. Costco also operates electronic commerce web sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.

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 thefinancial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, 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.