Mexico City, Jul. 9 - Walmex, Mexico's biggest retailer, said it posted an 8.6 percent rise in second-quarter profit Wednesday, helped by advertising that attracted more customers and boosted sales amid increased competition.
Wal-Mart de Mexico (Walmex) earned 3.229 billion pesos ($313 million) in the April-June period compared with 2.974 billion pesos in the year-ago period.
Results were slightly below analysts expectations of a profit of 3.271 billion pesos ($317 million) according to a prior Reuters poll.
Total revenue rose 12 percent to 57.38 billion pesos ($5.57 billion), a tad above analysts' expectations, compared with 51.13 billion pesos in the second quarter of 2007.
Walmex launched a widespread advertising campaign in the last leg of the quarter to boost sales as rival Soriana escalated a battle for customers amid a tough economic environment marked by rising inflation.
Walmex, a unit of U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , said same-store sales in June, a key gauge for retailers performance, rose 8 percent compared with the same month a year earlier.