MEXICO CITY, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Walmart's ( WMT ) Mexico and

Central America unit reported a 5% dip in its third-quarter net

profit on Wednesday as both the costs of its increased sales and

general expenses grew.

Walmart ( WMT ) de Mexico, the country's largest

retailer, posted a net profit of 12.93 billion pesos ($656.61

million), below the average forecast of 13.62 billion pesos seen

by analysts polled by LSEG.

Quarterly sales were up 8% from the year-ago quarter to

reach 228.43 billion pesos, a touch under the mean estimate of

229.12 billion pesos from analysts polled by LSEG.

In line with the increased sales was the cost of sales, up

more than 7% year-over-year. General expenses were up nearly 15%

and taxes leaped some 23%.

($1 = 19.6921 Mexican pesos at end-September)