Wal-Mart sales soft, but ups profit forecast

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday blamed an early Easter and weather woes for March sales that were at the lower end of its guidance.

However, the world's largest retailer upped its fiscal first-quarter profit guidance, citing tighter inventory levels that helped it to reduce additional discounts in the period.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) said sales at its stores open at least a year, a key measure of retail performance known as same-store sales, rose 0.7%, which was at the lower-end of its guidance of being flat to up 2% for the month.

The retailer said a shift in the holiday calendar, which resulted in the Easter holiday coming about a month earlier than last year, negatively hurt sales last month.

"[With] Easter coming much earlier this year, the traditional selling period for the holiday was shorter," the company said in a statement.

Wal-Mart also blamed cooler weather in March for weak sales of spring and summer clothing. But the retailer said sales of grocery, health and wellness and entertainment products were stronger in the month.

For April, the company expects same-store sales to be up 1% to 3%. "This guidance is slightly higher than our comparable sales guidance of the previous two months, which has been flat to 2%," said Wal-Mart chief financial officer Tom Schoewe.

Wal-Mart also raised its first-quarter profit forecast to between 74 to 76 cents a share from its previous estimate of 70 to 74 cents a share.

Analysts polled by earnings tracker Thomson Financial had expected the retailer to earn 72 cents a share for the quarter.