To: Xpiderman who wrote (160 ) 5/19/1998 12:41:00 PM From: Beltropolis Boy Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1169
a couple of releases:Home Depot sees 761 stores by year-end May 19, 1998 10:08 AM MIAMI, May 19 (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc. President and Chief Executive Arthur Blank said the company expects to end the year with 761 stores. "We'll end this year with 761 stores," he said during a conference call following the release of the Atlanta-based company's fiscal first quarter results. At the end of the quarter, on May 3, the company had 656 stores. Blank also said during the call that Home Depot expects to have more than 1,300 stores by the end of 2001. "As we look at a lot of new growth initiatives, the lion's share of the growth of the company will continue to come from new stores that we add each year," he said. Home Depot "committed" to 23-25 pct EPS growth May 19, 1998 09:46 AM MIAMI, May 19 (Reuters) - Home Depot Inc. HD President and Chief Executive Arthur Blank said Tuesday the company is "committed" to its goal of 23-25 percent earnings per share growth this year. "We are committed to the 23-25 percent earnings per share growth," he said during a conference call following the release of the Atlanta-based firm's fiscal first quarter earnings. The company posted diluted earnings per share for the first quarter, ended May 3, of $0.45, up 29 from $0.35 in the year-earlier quarter. Sales were $7.12 billion, up 26 percent from $5.66 billion a year earlier. "We obviously are very pleased with our performance during the first quarter of the year," Blank said. Analysts on the conference call said the quarter was very strong quarter. The earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations of $0.42 a share.