Home Depot And Lowe’s Report Lower Quarterly Earnings

Still feeling the effects of the housing slump, the nation’s two largest home improvement retailers reported lower earnings and profits for the first quarter of 2007.

The Home Depot Inc., Atlanta, reported a 29.5 percent drop in first-quarter profit. Home Depot said that for the three months ended April 29, it earned $1.05 billion, compared with a profit of $1.48 billion in the same period a year ago.

The company also said it has no comment on its plans for its HD Supply unit. Earlier this year, Home Depot announced it was exploring alternatives for its HD Supply division. “That review is ongoing and the company will wait to comment on it until it is completed,” Home Depot said.

Meanwhile, profit at Lowe’s fell 12.1 percent in the first-quarter. Lowe’s said it earned $739 million for the three months ended May 4, down from $841 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $12.2 billion from $11.9 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales for sales in stores open at least one year, a key measure of industry performance, fell 6.3 percent. Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman and CEO, said multiple factors including a difficult housing market and significant lumber and plywood price deflation continued to create a challenging sales environment in the first quarter.