Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer by sales, is slowing its opening of stores in China and Brazil after admitting it had let profitability slip in its haste to expand.

Walmart International cut its plans for new store space this year by about 30 per cent to the equivalent of between 115 and 126 new US supercenters. This will reduce its capital expenditure by $500 million.

Walmart’s announcement came as it reported international sales in the quarter to the end of July rose 7.2 per cent to $32.3 billion, excluding currency effects, marking a slowdown in growth from a 10.9 per cent rise in the previous quarter. Global revenue of $114.3 billion fell short of Wall Street forecasts in spite of US growth, partly due to a stronger dollar. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012