Like Lowe's, Home Depot Earnings Slide Sharply

Atlanta, GA, February 26, 2008--Earnings for The Home Depot fell 27 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago, the company reported.

Home Depot reported net earnings of $671 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared with $925 million, or $0.46 per diluted share in fiscal 2006. Sales for the fourth quarter totaled $17.7 billion, a 1.5 percent increase from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006.

The fourth quarter of 2007 also consisted of 14 weeks compared with 13 weeks for the prior year. The 14th week added approximately $1.1 billion in sales for the quarter and the year. Excluding the 14th week, fourth quarter sales declined by 4.7 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.

Comparable store sales for the quarter declined 8.3 percent.

For the year, earnings per share fell 15.1 percent to $2.37 on net earnings of $4.4 billion, compared to earnings per share of $2.79 on net earnings of $5.8 billion in fiscal 2006. Excluding the 53rd week, consolidated earnings per share declined by 16.5 percent.

"This was a difficult year financially, but I believe the progress we made on our key priorities set the foundation for the long term health of our company," said Frank Blake, chairman and CEO.

"We see the home improvement market in 2008 as challenging, but we are going to continue to focus on our five priorities and build on the progress we made in 2007," Blake said.

The earnings decline was not as sharp as Lowe's, which on Monday reported a 33 percent drop in the fourth quarter.