Lowe's Earnings Decline 60 Percent in Quarter

Mooresville, NC, Feb. 20, 2009--Lowe's Companies, Inc. reported net earnings of $162 million for the quarter ended Jan. 30, a 60.3 percent decline from the same period a year ago.

Earnings per share declined 60.7 percent to $0.11 from $0.28 in the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the fiscal year ended Jan. 30, net earnings declined 21.9 percent to $2.20 billion while earnings per share declined 19.9 percent to $1.49.

Sales for the quarter declined 3.8 percent to $9.98 billion. For the fiscal year sales declined 0.1 percent to $48.2 billion. Comparable store sales declined 9.9 percent for the fourth quarter and 7.2 percent for fiscal 2008.

"The economic pressures on consumers intensified in the fourth quarter, resulting in a further decline in consumer confidence and dramatic reductions in consumer spending," commented Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO.

"As a result, our comparable store sales for the quarter remained weak and fell at the low end of our expectations. However, in this challenging sales environment and throughout this prolonged industry downturn, we are continuing to capture market share."

He said the company chose to be more aggressive than planned with seasonal merchandise markdowns. This pressured gross margin, but helped improve the company's inventory position heading into fiscal 2009.