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The company has launched an internal investigation and is working with government officials in the U.S. and Mexico. In November, Wal-Mart said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was looking into potential U.S. bribery law violations in Brazil, China and India. During a pre-recorded call to investors Thursday, CEO Mike Duke said that the company has "made significant improvement to our compliance programs around the world in 2013 and took a number of specific actions with respect to the processes, procedures and people." In the fourth quarter, Wal-Mart said it earned $5.6 billion, or $1.67 per share, up from $5.16 billion, or $1.50 per share, a year earlier. Results were helped by a lower tax rate, which was 27.7 percent, compared with the rate of 30.9 percent a year ago. Net sales rose 3.9 percent to $127.1 billion. Earnings topped Wall Street estimates of $1.57 per share, but sales fell short of the $127.8 billion analysts were expecting. During the current quarter, Wal-Mart said it expects earnings per share to range from $1.11 to $1.16 per share, below the $1.18 per share analysts polled by research firm FactSet are expecting. Wal-Mart says its guidance includes about $40 million to $45 million in first-quarter costs related to matters related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and compliance issues. For the year, Wal-Mart expects earnings per share of between $5.20 and $5.40 per share, while analysts expect $5.38 per share. Despite the subdued forecast, investors were bracing for a weaker report after Bloomberg published a story Friday that leaked an email from a top executive characterizing the first two weeks of February as "a total disaster." Shares fell that day, but investors appeared to be relieved on Thursday that Wal-Mart's outlook wasn't worse. Shares rose more than 2 percent, or $1.49 per share, to $70.70.
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