Walmart earnings fall on strong dollar, higher costs

US retail behemoth Wal-Mart Stores reported Tuesday a dip in second-quarter profits due in part to the strong dollar and higher operating costs.

Net income for the quarter ending July 31 was $3.475 billion, down 11.4 percent from the year-ago period.

Revenues edged up 0.1 percent to $120.23 billion.

Same-store sales at Walmart's namesake US stores rose 1.5 percent, while same-stores sales in its Sam's Club wholesale centers in the US were up 1.3 percent.

However, results at Walmart US were dented by lower than expected pharmacy reimbursements, as well as the implementation of a plan to boost employee wages and hours.

Walmart's international operations were weighed down by the strong dollar. Sales in the international segment fell 9.6 percent to $30.64 billion.

Partly due to the dollar, the company trimmed its full-year forecast for fiscal 2016 to $4.40-$4.70 per share, down from the previous range of $4.70-$5.05.

"We made continued progress towards our plan this quarter," said chief executive Doug McMillon.

"Even if it's not as fast as we'd like, the fundamentals of serving our customers are consistently improving, and it's reflected in our comps and revenue growth."

The results translated into $1.08 per share, below the $1.12 projected by Wall Street analysts.

Shares of Dow member Walmart fell 2.9 percent to $69.85 in pre-market trade.