Flipkart drives ecommerce sales growth for Walmart’s international operations

Retail giant Walmart said in its Q4 earnings for the financial year 2019-20 that there was a 2.1% increase in total revenue to $141.7 billion, from $128 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. The net sales at Walmart’s international business stood at $33 billion, up 2.3% from $32.3 billion in Q4 last year.

In its earnings report, the Bentonville, Arkansas headquartered company said that its international ecommerce sales grew by 12%, mainly on the back of Flipkart sales and increasing orders of grocery deliveries internationally. 

The political unrest in Chile affected the operating income of the company by about $110 million, it said.

Walmart is reporting Flipkart’s first full year of operations since acquiring a controlling stake in the Indian ecommerce platform in May 2018.

Some of the company’s executives, including Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, said that the growth reported by Flipkart and its payment services unit PhonePe was impressive. 

“Excluding Flipkart, adjusted operating income would have grown this year,” Brett Biggs, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Walmart, said, adding that the dilution from the Flipkart business was as per their expectation.

The company also reported a fall in return on investment to 13.4% in the fiscal ending January 31, 2020, compared to last year’s 14.2%, due to a decrease in operating income as a result of dilution from Flipkart and business restructuring costs recorded in fiscal 2020. In Q3 2020, Walmart reported non-cash impairment charges on the Jabong.com trade name to the tune of $290 million on account of the Myntra-Jabong merger and writing off the latter’s brand value.