In the first quarter, Home Depot Inc. increased net earnings to $1.58 billion, up 14% from $1.38 billion a year ago. Home Depot reported sales of $20.9 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, up 6.1% from prior year. Same store sales rose 6.1% and comp-sales for US stores were up 7.1%.
Home Depot adjusted its earnings estimates, expecting sales to grow 4.2% to 4.8% this year. Earnings per share are expected to grow 11-12% from fiscal 2014.
“We had a stronger-than-expected start to the year as we experienced a more normal spring across much of the country and continued recovery of the U.S. housing market,” said Craig Menear, chairman, CEO and president of the Atlanta-based retailer.
The rebounding housing market also helped results at Lowe’s, who reported net earnings of $673 million for the quarter, a 7.8% increase over prior year. Sales increased 5.4% to $14.1 billion. Same store sales increased 5.2%. However, this did not beat Wall Street projections.
Lowe’s is expecting to open a total of 15 to 20 home improvement and hardware stores this year.
“I am pleased that we executed well and delivered another strong quarter,” said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO. “We generated comparable sales growth in all regions of the country and across all product categories, driving strong earnings per share growth.”
Source: Retailing Today
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