Lowe's announced that its Q3 2009 earnings fell 29.5% from $488 million or 33 cents/share in 2008 to $344 million or 23 cents/share. Revenue fell 3% and same store sales fell 7.5% due to the sluggish housing market and the economic downturn.
Lowe's reported that its Q2 2009 earnings fell 19.1% from $938 million for Q2 2008 to $759 million in 2009. The large drop in profits were due to decrease in net sales and comparable store sales. In addition, Lowe's main competitor Home Depot only reported a loss of 8.1% for the quarter.
Home Depot, the industry leader and Lowe's main competitor, raised its 2009 profit forecast as a result of individual homeowners spending more and stronger overall sales.
For Q4 FY2008, LOW announced that it would pay out $0.085/share in cash dividend to common shareholders on record as of April 17, 2009. The dividend will be paid out on May 1, 2009.
For Q4 2008, ended Jan 31, 2009, BKS reported earnings of $81.2 million, or $1.46 per share. This is a 29% decrease compared to earnings from the previous-year quarter, during which net income was $115 million. EPS for the full year 2008 was $2.03, beating analyst estimates.
LOW reported a 60% drop in earnings during Q4 2008 compared to the prior-year quarter and offered a bleak outlook for 2009, attributing its poor performance to the pressures from the economic downturn and the weak home market.
In Q3 2008 (ended Oct. 31, 2008), LOW's earnings decreased by 24% to $488 million, when compared to the prior-year quarter. Sales were up by 1.4% to $11.73 billion, and same-store sales fell by 5.9%. LOW performed better than expected as well as better than its major competitor, Home Depot.
After reporting better than expected figures for the fiscal 2007 fourth quarter (although Lowe's beat analyst expectations, it still experienced a 7.6% decrease in same store sales during the quarter and a 5.1% decrease in same store sales for the full year), Lowe's announced that the company was pulling back on their prior expansion plans for FY 2008. Rather than opening 135 to 145 stores during the year as the company stated in September, Lowe's plans on opening about 120 stores during the year; the decrease is management's response to visibly tough conditions in the housing market and domestic economy.
Lowe's reported a slight (3.2%) increase in sales in the fiscal third quarter of 2007 compared to the same quarter last year. However, gross profit declined 2.6% and net profit declined 10.2%, largely due to product price markdowns due to poor sales. Also Lowe's saw a continuing downward trend in comparable store sales, which decreased 4% during the quarter. Lowe's management stated that they expect poor results to continue in light of difficult economic conditions.
Lowe's announced a quarterly profit of nine percent, which exceeded expectations of the market. The net revenue increased to $14.17 billion from $13.39 billion last year. This led to an increase in the stock price in the early trading. However, the company reduced its earnings outlook for the year as the sales at the stores open for at least a year decreased by 2.6 percent.
Lowe's reports an 11% drop in profits in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Lowe's announces plans to open 5 stores in Mexico in 2009.
Larry Stone is promoted to his current position as President of Lowe's.
