Costco quarterly profit rises 1.6 percent

Warehouse club retailer Costco Wholesale Corp reported a 1.6 percent rise in quarterly profit as shoppers bought more at its stores.

Shares of the company rose 2.1 percent after the bell.

Consumer spending in the United states rose 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The bump in spending is likely to have helped Costco, which mainly caters to high-income customers.

Net income rose to $779 million, or $1.77 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Aug. 28, from $767 million, or $1.73 per share, a year earlier.

The retailer reported a 2 percent rise in quarterly sales to $35.73 billion.

For the fourth quarter, it also reported a 1 percent drop in sales at U.S. stores open more than a year. Excluding the impact of fuel and currency fluctuations, sales at U.S. comparable stores rose 2 percent.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)