Mooresville, NC, August 16-- Lowe's in the second quarter reported net income that was up 17.9 percent to $704 million, or $0.89 per share.
Analysts were expecting profit of $0.90 per share.
Total sales for the quarter increased 17.3 percent to $10.2 billion. The company said total sales slowed in June as many factors, including adverse weather, delayed the start of late-spring and early-summer projects. Same store sales in the quarter were up 5.1 percent.
The company said it expects third-quarter profit of $0.65 to $0.66 per share and same store sales to rise 3 percent to 4 percent. For the full year, it forecast earnings of $2.69 to $2.71, including the effect of an accounting change.
Analysts currently expect per-share profit of $0.63 per share for the third quarter and $2.70 for the full year.
During the quarter the company opened 20 new stores including 3 relocations. As of July 30 it operated 997 stores in 45 states representing 113.8 million square feet of retail selling space, a 14.2 percent increase over last year.
