New York, Rabi'II 30, 1436, Feb 19, 2015, SPA -- Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated reported a 12 percent increase in profit for the fourth quarter as sales in the critical year-end holiday shopping season improved amid lower gasoline prices and an improving U.S. economy. The world’s biggest retailer said profit rose to $4.97 billion in the October-December period on revenue of $131.67 billion. The profit figure easily beat Wall Street expectations, but the revenue figure was slightly short of analyst estimates. Wal-Mart also announced Thursday it was spending more than $1 billion this year on a package of initiatives that will increase pay and enhance training for its 1.3 million U.S. workers, including a pay raise for 40 percent of its U.S. employees—about 500,000 people—in the next six months. --SPA 18:09 LOCAL TIME 15:09 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w