Costco Wholesale Corp reported a bigger-than-expected 7 percent fall in May same-store sales, including fuel, hurt by gasoline deflation and unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

The mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters was for a drop of 6.4 percent in comparable sales for the month, including fuel.

Excluding the impact of fuel and foreign exchange, the company saw same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rise 1 percent.

The No.1 U.S. warehouse club said total sales for the month fell 5 percent to $5.47 billion.

Costco said last week quarterly net profit slumped 29 percent as shoppers cut back on purchases of non-essential items like clothes and jewelry.

Shares of the company closed at $48.47 Wednesday on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)