Shortly before the opening bell on October 7, membership warehouse operator Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), announced that the company’s profits during the 4Q slipped year-over-year, partly because of a stronger Dollar and an increase in employee benefit costs. Nevertheless, Costco managed to post earnings ahead of market expectations.

Operating more than 560 warehouses throughout the world, Costco recorded a quarterly profit of $374M, or $0.85 per share, albeit 6% lower than the previous year’s earnings of $398M, or $0.90 per share.

Revenues during the period declined as well, falling from $23.1B to $22.38B, a decrease in overall sales of just over 3%. Same store sales, a leading indictor of economic activity, showed an overall decline in revenues of 5%, with sales slipping 6% in U.S. stores and 3% throughout the international markets.

Excluding lower gas prices and a stronger Dollar, same store sales would have posted a 1% gain.

On average, analysts within the industry were looking for Costco to post a quarterly profit of $0.77 per share based on $22.34B in overall sales.

Costco’s results could have been worse if it had not been for a strong September. During the month, the company managed to increase net sales by 3%, from $6.85B to $6.67B. Same store sales, excluding the sale of gasoline, jumped 4% overall, with a 3% increase in the U.S. and a 9% surge in international sales.

For fiscal 2009, Costco reported a net profit of $1.09B, or $2.47 per share, in contrast to fiscal 2008 wherein the company posted net income of $1.28B, or $2.89 per share, a decline in annual earnings of nearly 15%.

Revenues throughout 2009 totaled $71.42B, down marginally from 2008’s tally of $72.48B. Included in the annual summary, net sales for the company totaled $69.89B, down from $70.98B in 2008, a 1.5% drop year-over-year. From 2008 to 2009, membership fees increased, growing from $1.51B to $1.53B.

Analysts, on average, were looking for the nation’s fifth largest general retailer to post annual profits of $2.47 per share on total revenues of $71.44B.

By the sound of the closing bell, Costco shares advanced nearly 2%, gaining $1.03 to conclude the session at $58.96 per share. During the course of a year, the company’s stock has traded within a relatively wide range, reaching highs of $61.52 per share, while dipping as low as $38.17 per share.