The Home Depot(R) Reports Record Net Earnings for Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 1999
Best Fourth Quarter and Annual Net Earnings, as a Percent of Sales, In History of Company
Fiscal 1999 Was 14th Consecutive Year of Record Earnings Comparable Store Sales Increased 10% for Year
ATLANTA, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Home Depot (NYSE: HD), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported net earnings of $578 million ($0.25 per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999, up 38% from net earnings of $418 million ($0.18 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998. Sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 totaled $9.2 billion, up 26% from $7.3 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998. Comparable store sales for the quarter rose 9% from the previous year.
Fiscal 1999 net earnings totaled $2.3 billion ($1.00 per diluted share), up 44% from fiscal 1998 net earnings of $1.6 billion ($0.71 per diluted share). Fiscal 1999 sales totaled $38.4 billion, an increase of 27% from sales of $30.2 billion in fiscal 1998. Comparable store sales for fiscal 1999 rose 10% from the previous year. Annualized inventory turnover for fiscal 1999 was 5.4, consistent with the previous year.
"We are extremely proud of the financial results for fiscal 1999," said Arthur M. Blank, President and CEO of The Home Depot. "Through the efforts of 200,000 associates serving our customers, we generated a year of strong growth, market share gains and record earnings, even as we continued to make investments in longer-term growth."
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999, The Home Depot opened 52 new stores and relocated one store. At the end of fiscal 1999, the Company operated a total of 930 stores with an aggregate of approximately 100 million square feet of selling space. The stores included 913 Home Depot stores: 854 in the United States, 53 in Canada, 4 in Chile and 2 in Puerto Rico; and 15 EXPO Design Centers(SM) and 2 Villager's Hardware(SM) test stores in the United States.
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot was recently named in the Top 10 of America's Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine, which also has ranked it as America's Most Admired Specialty Retailer for seven consecutive years. Home Depot stock is publicly traded and is included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's Index.
THE HOME DEPOT, INC.
STATEMENT OF EARNINGS
FOURTH QUARTER
(Unaudited)
(Amounts in Millions Except Per Share Data)
Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
01-30-00 01-31-99 01-30-00 01-31-99
NET SALES $9,174 $7,258 $38,434 $30,219
COST OF MERCHANDISE
SOLD 6,252 5,061 27,023 21,614
GROSS PROFIT 2,922 2,197 11,411 8,605
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Selling and Store
Operating 1,766 1,344 6,832 5,341
Pre-Opening 35 27 113 88
General & Administrative 192 140 671 515
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES 1,993 1,511 7,616 5,944
OPERATING INCOME 929 686 3,795 2,661
INTEREST AND INVESTMENT
INCOME 12 6 37 30
INTEREST EXPENSE (3) (8) (28) (37)
INTEREST, NET 9 (2) 9 (7)
EARNINGS BEFORE INCOME
TAXES 938 684 3,804 2,654
INCOME TAXES 360 266 1,484 1,040
NET EARNINGS $578 $418 $2,320 $1,614
BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE $0.25 $0.19 $1.03 $0.73
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON
SHARES
OUTSTANDING 2,303 2,212 2,244 2,206
DILUTED EARNINGS
PER SHARE (Note 1) $0.25 $0.18 $1.00 $0.71
WEIGHTED AVERAGE
COMMON SHARES
OUTSTANDING ASSUMING
DILUTION - (Note 1) 2,351 2,331 2,342 2,320
Selected Highlights
CUSTOMER TRANSACTIONS 195 162 797 665
AVERAGE SALE PER
TRANSACTION ($) $46.61 $44.46 $47.87 $45.05
WEIGHTED AVG. WEEKLY
SALES PER STORE (000's) $778 $753 $876 $844
SQUARE FOOTAGE -
END OF PERIOD -- -- 100 81
CAPITAL EXPENDITURES $817 $572 $2,632 $2,093
DEPRECIATION AND
AMORTIZATION $134 $96 $472 $373
Selected Balance Sheet Information
01-30-00 01-31-99
Cash and Short-Term
Investments $170 $62
Merchandise Inventories 5,489 4,293
Current Assets 6,390 4,933
Property and Equipment,
Net 10,227 8,160
Total Assets 17,081 13,465
Current Liabilities 3,656 2,857
Long-Term Debt 750 1,566
Stockholders' Equity 12,341 8,740
Note 1: For purposes of calculating diluted earnings per share, net
earnings have been adjusted for tax effected net
interest and issue costs on the Company's 3-1/4% Convertible
Subordinated Notes prior to conversion to equity in October 1999.
For fiscal 1999, earnings were adjusted $1 million for the fourth
quarter and $16 million for the year. For fiscal 1998, earnings
were adjusted $5 million for the fourth quarter and $23 million
for the year. In addition, Weighted Average Common Shares
Outstanding Assuming Dilution includes the effect of potentially
dilutive shares related to the Company's 3-1/4% Convertible
Subordinated Notes (prior to conversion to equity) and various
employee stock plans.
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SOURCE: The Home Depot
CONTACT: Kim Shreckengost, Vice President of Investor Relations, 770-384-2666, or kim_shreckengost@homedepot.com, or Jerry Shields, Sr. Public Relations Manager, 770-384-2741, or jerry_shields@homedepot.com |
