MEXICO CITY, July 24 (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico and

Central America unit posted a 9.3% year-on-year

climb in its second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as its

sales and in-store traffic grew.

Net profit reached 12.51 billion pesos ($684.12

million), from revenues up 6.4% to 225.75 billion pesos, the

company said in a statement.

Same-store sales in the quarter were up 5.5% in Mexico and

2.6% in Central America, the firm, known as Walmex, said.

It added that its earnings were driven by growth in its

various store formats and strong performance by new stores

opened in the quarter.

The quarter's results are the first since the company's

board of directors appointed Ignacio Caride as Walmex's new

chief executive officer at the end of April.

"Our business strategy continues to focus on our

omnichannel abilities to better serve our clients, at the same

time that we are putting greater emphasis on strengthening

automation, digitalization and simplification," Caride, the

company's former e-commerce head, said in the company's

statement.

($1 = 18.2862 Mexican pesos at end-June)