Home Depot Cuts Earnings Outlook

Atlanta, GA, July 10, 2007--Home Depot cut its 2007 earnings outlook, citing weakness in the housing market.

The company said it expected 2007 earnings per share to fall 15 percent to 18 percent from a year earlier, to a range of $2.30 to $2.36 per share. It  earned $2.79 per share in fiscal 2006.

Home Depot said it expected 2007 total retail sales to decline by 1 percent to 2 percent, and same-store sales to decline by mid-single digits.

The company said its updated targets reflect its HD Supply business as a discontinued operation. Its May forecast, which had included the business, had called for a 9-percent decline in annual profit.

Adjusted for the HD Supply business, the company's earlier forecast had estimated a 15 percent decline in full-year profit to $2.36 per share.