Home Depot profit tops estimates on cost cuts

(Reuters) - Home Depot Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday as the world's largest home improvement chain kept a tight lid on costs to offset weak sales.

Net earnings were $1.01 billion, or 73 cents a share, compared with $1.02 billion, or 68 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts were looking for a profit of 71 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Home Depot was faster to cut costs than its smaller rival Lowe's Cos Inc during the most recent U.S. recession.

It has particularly gained from its move to have more centralized distribution centers. It managed to cut total operating costs by 4 percent in the quarter.

Sales fell 3 percent to $17.70 billion, missing the analysts' estimate of $17.91 billion. The fourth quarter had one week less than the prior-year period.

Analysts had also raised concerns about inclement weather hurting traffic to its stores in the United States in December and January.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.4 percent, including a 4.9 percent rise at its U.S. stores.

For the current fiscal year, the company expects earnings of $4.38 a share on sales growth of about 4.8 percent.

(Reporting By Dhanya Skariachan Editing by W Simon and Sophie Hares)