By Michael Calia
Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) said its fiscal fourth-quarter
profit grew 6.3% as the home-improvement retailer's sales continued
to grow.
The results came in just under Wall Street expectations,
however.
The company also authorized an additional $5 billion in share
buybacks. The company will continue to use the $1.3 billion balance
on its existing authorization, Lowe's said, adding that it bought
back $958 million in shares during the fourth quarter.
For the new fiscal year, Lowe's said it expects per-share
earnings of $2.60, below the $2.64 recently projected by analysts
polled recently by Thomson Reuters. The company said it expects
total sales to increase 5% for the year, in line with analysts'
views. Additionally, Lowe's said it expects same-store sales for
the year to rise 4%.
Lowe's and rival Home Depot Inc. (HD) have enjoyed the fruits of
a housing recovery while retailers in general have struggled with
overall sluggishness in consumer spending. Yet, Home Depot plans to
keep its seasonal hiring level for spring, its busiest sales
season, flat at 80,000, while Lowe's said last week it would hire
25,000 seasonal workers, down from the previous-year total of
45,000.
Meanwhile, Home Depot on Tuesday posted same-store sales growth
of 4.4% in its fiscal fourth quarter, while saying it expects
same-store sales growth of 4.6% for the fiscal year.
Lowe's on Wednesday said it posted 3.9% same-store sales growth
in the period.
The company, meanwhile, said it had authorized an additional $5
billion in share buybacks. For the quarter ended Jan. 31, Lowe's
posted a profit of $306 million, or 29 cents a share, up from $288
million, or 26 cents a share, a year ago. Net sales improved 5.6%
to $11.66 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted per-share
earnings of 31 cents on revenue of $11.67 billion.
Gross margin improved to 34.7% from 34.3%.
Shares of Lowe's were inactive. The stock, which closed at
$48.11 Tuesday, is down 2.9% so far this year.
Write to Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires