Home Depot profit up
ATLANTA, USA – HOME Depot says its fiscal first-quarter profit climbed 27.5 per cent as warmer weather brought US consumers out for spring gardening and lawn products.
The world’s biggest home-improvement company also boosted its 2012 financial outlook yesterday, citing its year-to-date performance.
But the Atlanta retailer’s quarterly revenue results and its full-year revenue guidance fell short of analysts’ expectations. Its stock dropped more than three per cent in premarket trading.
Home Depot Inc reported net income of US$1.04 billion ($90 billion), or 68 cents per share, for the period ended April 29. That’s up from US$812 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.
The latest results beat the 64 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected.
“We saw a stronger-than-expected start to the year, driven by record warm weather and continued demand for core products,” Chairman and CEO Frank Blake said in a statement.
Revenue rose 6 percent to US$17.81 billion from US$16.8 billion. But that missed Wall Street’s estimate of US$17.89 billion.
Home Depot’s shares fell US$1.69, or 3.4 per cent, to US$48.19 ahead of the market opening.
Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 5.8 per cent, with the metric climbing 6.1 per cent for US locations.
This figure is a key indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.
The company expects fiscal 2012 earnings of US$2.90 per share, with revenue up about 4.6 per cent. This implies revenue of approximately US$73.66 billion. Home Depot previously predicted earnings of about US$2.79 per share and a four per cent revenue increase.
Analysts had expected earnings of US$2.90 per share on revenue of US$74.06 billion.