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Empresas y finanzas

Home Depot profit beats amid U.S. housing recovery


    By Nandita Bose and Nayan Das

    (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc reported higher-than-expected quarterly profit and sales on Tuesday and raised its full-year earnings forecast as North American customers spent more on home repairs after a harsh winter.

    The world's No. 1 home improvement chain said strong housing contrasted with below-consensus U.S. GDP growth in the first quarter.

    "The growth that we see in our business ... supports the view of the continued recovery in the U.S. housing market," Chief Executive Craig Menear said on a conference call.

    Stores across the United States catered to customers making home improvements after digging out from a long winter. Departments that outperformed included tools, decor, lighting, plumbing and appliances.

    Home Depot raised its profit forecast for the year ending February 2016 to between $5.24 and $5.27 per share including items, from $5.11 to $5.17. Wall Street was looking for $5.23 per share.

    It also increased its full-year sales growth forecast to between 4.2 and 4.8 percent from 3.5 to 4.7 percent.

    Total same-store sales rose 6.1 percent in the first quarter ended May 3. Analysts on average had expected a 5.5 percent rise, according to Consensus Metrix.

    Net income rose to $1.58 billion, or $1.21 per share, from $1.38 billion, or $1.00 per share, a year earlier.

    Revenue rose 6 percent to $20.89 billion.

    Excluding items, the company earned $1.16 per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.15 per share and revenue of $20.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    Atlanta-based Home Depot has said it faces several dozen civil lawsuits after its data systems were breached between April and September last year, when hackers stole about 56 million payment cards.

    The first-quarter results included $7 million in breach-related costs, though Home Depot said it cannot yet estimate the full scope of costs related to the breach.

    Shares of the Dow Jones industrials component were down 0.3 percent at $114. Up to Monday's close, the stock had risen nearly 9 percent this year.

    (Reporting by Nayan Das in Bengaluru and Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Nick Zieminski)