Home Depot, Lowe’s Both Post 4th-Qtr. Profits

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 3/8/2010

NEW YORK — Home-improvement giants The Home Depot and Lowe’s both reported fi scal Q4 profi ts recently, with sales being relatively flat compared with the prior year’s fi nal quarter.

The Home Depot, based in Atlanta, reported a profit but lower sales in its fiscal fourth quarter, ended Jan. 31.

Sales in its fiscal fourth quarter were $14.6 billion, a 0.3 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

Total company comp-store sales for the fourth quarter grew 1.2 percent. Comp-store sales for U.S. stores were down 1.1 percent.

Net earnings for the quarter were $342 million, compared with a net loss of $54 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter.

Sales for fiscal 2009 were $66.2 billion, a decline of 7.2 percent from fi scal 2008. Total company comp-store sales for the year declined 6.6 percent, and comps for U.S. stores were negative 6.2 percent for the year.

For fiscal 2009, consolidated net earnings increased 17.2 percent to $2.7 billion, compared with consolidated net earnings of $2.3 billion in fi scal 2008.

“Despite the tough economic environment, we were able to make solid progress against our key initiatives in 2009,” said Frank Blake, chairman/ CEO, in a prepared statement. “We continued to restructure our distribution network, with our Rapid Deployment Centers now serving more than 65 percent of our U.S. store base. And we enhanced overall customer service as measured by third-party surveys.”

Lowe’s based in Mooresville, N.C., reported net earnings of $205 million for the quarter, ended Jan. 29, a 26.5 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

For the fiscal year, ended on the same day, net earnings declined 18.8 percent to $1.78 billion.

Sales for the quarter increased 1.8 percent to $10.2 billion, up from $10 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the fi scal year, sales declined 2.1 percent to $47.2 billion. Comp-store sales for the fourth quarter declined 1.6 percent and declined 6.7 percent for fiscal 2009.

In commenting on the quarter in a prepared statement, Robert Niblock, Lowe’s chairman/CEO, said, “Our fourth-quarter results, including sales and earnings that exceeded our guidance, suggest the worst of the economic cycle is likely behind us.”

He added, “While the psychological impact of falling home prices and an uncertain employment picture continue to weigh on consumers, improving comparable store sales trends, including improvement in many bigger-ticket, project categories, provides an encouraging sign that consumers are gaining the confi dence to take on more discretionary projects.”

During the quarter, Lowe’s opened 11 stores and now operates 1,710 stores in the United States and Canada, representing 193.2 million square feet of retail selling space, a 3.5 percent increase over last year.