Early Easter skewed March sales: Wal-Mart director

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) March sales were distorted because of an early Easter, Director Jack Shewmaker said on Thursday, but combined figures for March and April are likely to be strong.

Wal-Mart earlier reported a 0.7 percent rise in March sales at U.S. stores open at least a year, missing Wall Street expectations.

"I think that if you combine the two of them ... they are going to be good," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Retail Congress.

Shewmaker, a former Wal-Mart executive who semi-retired in 1988 and who has been on the board of directors since 1977, said Wal-Mart was better placed than others to weather a U.S. economic downturn as consumers looked for cheaper goods.

"If they're going to spend or buy the things they need, they are probably going to go to the store where they think they're going to get the best for their dollar," he said.

"I was executive vice president back in the seventies, the first economic downturn I remember, we did extremely well coming out of that because we had a better value proposition."

U.S. retailers have been battered as consumers face rising gasoline prices, falling home values, tighter credit standards and concerns about job security.

But Wal-Mart raised its first-quarter earnings forecast on Thursday, citing expense controls and fewer markdowns.

Its shares were trading 1.9 percent higher at $55.17 on the New York Stock Exchange at 1538 GMT.

Shewmaker said rising food costs were a concern, with the cost of commodities soaring.

"What scares me personally is the food cost increases. I think we have a huge number of factors over which Wal-Mart has very little control. All we can do is not pass on the cost increases any sooner than we absolutely have to," he said.

(Reporting by Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Erica Billingham)