Home Depot Settles Shareholder Suit

Atlanta, GA, April 4, 2008--Home Depot has agreed to pay $14.5 million in a settlement with shareholders who sued the company over former CEO Bob Nardelli's $210 million severance package, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The settlement still needs to be approved by a Fulton County Superior Court judge, according to the filing.

The annual filing also said that Home Depot spent $1.2 billion on advertising and $3.6 billion on new stores, store modernization and technology last year.

Home Depot opened 110 stores last year, bringing the number of its locations to 2,234.

Comparable store sales declined 6.7 percent last year, driven by a 4.4 percent decline in comparable-store transactions, as well as a decline in average ticket to $57.48, according to the filing.

The company also said its revenue from installations and home maintenance programs fell to $3.5 billion in 2007, down from $3.8 billion a year earlier, as the slumping housing market hurt home improvement projects.