RETURN ON INVESTMENT AND RETURN ON AVERAGE ASSETS
Published on November 29, 2007
Exhibit
12.3
WAL-MART
STORES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Return
on
Investment and Return on Average Assets
In
various written and oral releases or presentations to analysts, investors
and/or
shareholders, management may, from time to time, refer to return on investment
(ROI) and return on average assets (ROA). We define return on
investment as adjusted operating income (operating income plus interest income
and depreciation and amortization and rent from continuing operations) for
the
fiscal year or trailing twelve months divided by average investment during
that
period. We consider average investment to be the average of our beginning
and
ending total assets of continuing operations plus accumulated depreciation
and
amortization less accounts payable and accrued liabilities for that period,
plus
a rent factor equal to the rent for the fiscal year or trailing twelve months
multiplied by a factor of eight. Management believes return on
investment is a meaningful metric to share with investors and shareholders
because it helps assess how efficiently Wal-Mart is employing its
assets.
Return
on
investment differs from return on assets (income from continuing operations
before minority interest for the fiscal year or the trailing twelve months
divided by average of total assets of continuing operations for the period)
because: return on investment adjusts operating income to exclude certain
expense items and add interest income; it adjusts total assets from continuing
operations for the impact of accumulated depreciation and amortization, accounts
payable and accrued liabilities; and it incorporates a factor of rent to
arrive
at total invested capital. We consider return on assets to be
the financial measure computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting
principles that is the most directly comparable financial measure to return
on
investment as we calculate that financial measure.
Although
return on investment is a standard financial metric, numerous methods exist
for
calculating a company’s return on investment. As a result, the method
used by management to calculate return on investment may differ from the
method
other companies use to calculate their return on investment. We urge
you to understand the method used by another company to calculate its return
on
investment before comparing our return on investment to that of the other
company.
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Twelve
Months Ended
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Twelve
Months Ended
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October
31, 2007
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October
31, 2006
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(unaudited)
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(unaudited)
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Calculation
of Return on Investment
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NUMERATOR
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Operating
Income (1)
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$ |
21,547
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$ |
19,958
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+
Interest Income (1)
|
|
327
|
273
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+
Depreciation and Amortization (1)
|
6,102
|
5,199
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+
Rent (1)
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1,559
|
1,302
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=
Adjusted Operating Income (1)
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$ |
29,535
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$ |
26,732
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DENOMINATOR
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Average
Total Assets of Continuing Operations (2)
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158,092
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140,163
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+
Average Accumulated Depreciation and Amortization (2)
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28,403
|
24,469
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-
Average Accounts Payable (2)
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30,032
|
27,049
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-
Average Accrued Liabilities (2)
|
14,545
|
13,399
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+
Trailing 12 months of rent * 8 (2)
|
12,472
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10,416
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=
Invested Capital (2)
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$ |
154,390
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$ |
134,600
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ROI
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19.1 | % | 19.9 | % |
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Calculation
of Return on Assets
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NUMERATOR
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Income
From Continuing Operations Before Minority Interest (1)
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$ |
13,203
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$ |
12,229
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DENOMINATOR
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Average
Total Assets of Continuing Operations (2)
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$ |
158,092
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$ |
140,163
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ROA
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8.4 | % | 8.7 | % |
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As
of
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As
of
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As
of
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CERTAIN
BALANCE SHEET DATA
|
October
31, 2007
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October
31, 2006
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October
31, 2005
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(unaudited)
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(unaudited)
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(unaudited)
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Total
Assets of Continuing Operations (1)
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$ |
165,064
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$ |
151,119
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$ 129,206
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Accumulated
Depreciation and Amortization (1)
|
30,334
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26,472
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22,466
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Accounts
Payable (1)
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30,800
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29,263
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24,835
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Accrued
Liabilities (1)
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14,806
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14,283
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12,514
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(1)
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Based
on continuing operations only; and, therefore excludes the impact
of our
South Korean and German operations, which were sold in fiscal 2007,
all of
which are classified as discontinued operations. Total assets
as of October 31, 2005 in the table above exclude assets of discontinued
operations that are reflected in the Balance Sheet of
$2,593.
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(2)
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The
average based on the addition of the account balance at the end of
the
current period to the account balance at the end of the prior period
and
dividing by
2.
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