ISSAQUAH, Washington (

TheStreet

) --

Costco

(COST) - Get Report

said fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 17% as sales at its warehouse stores jumped 11%.

Costco, in a press release Wednesday, said net income for the quarter was $312 million, or 71 cents a share, compared with $266 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose to $18.82 billion from $16.92 billion.

The first quarter included sales from the company's 50%-owned Mexico joint venture. Without the sales from Mexico, sales would have risen 8%.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Costco to earn 69 cents a share in the quarter on sales of $18.81 billion.

Costco said same-store sales for the first quarter, including Mexico, rose 7%. U.S. same-store sales rose 5%, while international sales increased 14%.

Excluding gasoline inflation and stronger foreign currencies, same-store sales rose 5%, the retailer said.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel

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