Lowe's Reports Net Earnings Down 12% May 21, 2007

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Lowe's Companies, Inc. (Mooresville, NC), reported net earnings of US $739 million for the quarter ended May 4, 2007, a 12.1% decline versus the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share declined 9.4% to $0.48 from $0.53 in the first quarter of 2006.

Lowe's is the world's second-largest home improvement retailer and one of the biggest sellers of major appliances.  It reported sales for the quarter increased 2.1% to $12.2 billion, up from $11.9 billion in the first quarter of 2006. Comparable store sales for the first quarter declined 6.3%.

"Multiple factors, including a difficult housing market in many areas, tough comparisons to hurricane rebuilding efforts, and significant lumber and plywood price deflation, continued to create a challenging sales environment in the first quarter," said Chairman and CEO Robert A. Niblock. "Those anticipated factors were compounded by mixed weather during the quarter."

In second quarter 2007, in comparison to second quarter 2006, the retailer expects to open 26 new stores reflecting square footage growth of approximately 11%, and total sales are expected to increase 6-7%.
 

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