Costco’s sales on the rise

It has been a double-digit kind of performance for Costco Wholesale. The membership warehouse club has revealed that its net sales climbed 15.3% to top $70.8 billion during its fourth quarter ending Aug. 28, which also marked the end of its fiscal year.

During that just-concluded fiscal year, Costco shoppers rang up $222.7 billion in net sales, a 15.9% increase from fiscal 2021. Comp sales rose 14.4% across the company during FY2022, with a 15.8% lift in the U.S.

[Read More: Costco reports steady Q2, fiscal year results]

Taking out the impact of gas prices and foreign exchange, the yearly growth rate was 10.6% for the entire Costco organization and 10.4% for U.S. club stores. In a financial call, the assistant vice president of finance and investor relations, David Sherwood, noted that the average worldwide selling price of gasoline rose 25% in that period.

Comparable e-commerce sales have also been in positive territory: Online sales rose 3.9% during August, 7.1% in the fourth quarter, and 10.1% over the fiscal year.

According to Sherwood, the strongest sales comps came from the Midwest, Southeast and Northeast regions. By category, sales were particularly strong in bakery and produce, and fresh food sales increased by high single digits.

[Read More: Costco reportedly names new president, COO]

The retailer also shared financial figures for August, noting that net sales went up 11.4% last month to reach $17.55 billion. Same-store sales rose 10.1% overall and 11% in the United States for that four-week span.

Costco will release its comprehensive earning report for the fourth quarter and fiscal year on Sept. 22.

Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco has more than 550 locations across the nation.

This story originally appeared on Progressive Grocer.