Hungry for more

New York, Aug. 27 (Reuters): Wal-Mart Stores is considering acquisitions in its home market as it seeks to open smaller stores and limit its reliance on giant super centres for growth, the Financial Times reported in its online edition.

The move is seen as a response to the imminent opening in the United States of Tesco's Fresh & Easy neighbourhood grocery markets, the report said.

The world's largest retailer is seeking an executive to assess the “strategic implications of any possible M&A on our overall portfolio,” according to a Wal-Mart job posting cited by the FT.

The position is part of a new team that will develop a “comprehensive multi-format growth strategy,” the report said. Mike Griswold, a retail analyst at AMR Research, said the news “reinforces my view that Wal-Mart is taking Tesco very seriously,” according to the report.

Wal-Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wal-Mart’s net sales for the second quarter of financial year 2007-08 were $91.99 billion, an increase of 8.8 per cent over the second quarter of 2006-07.

Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $3.11 billion, an increase of 4.1 per cent from $2.98 billion in the second quarter of 2006-07.