The Home Depot Declares Third Quarter Dividend of 22.5 Cents

PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today announced that its board of directors declared a third quarter cash dividend of 22.5 cents per share. The dividend is payable on December 18 to shareholders of record on the close of business on December 4. This is the 87th consecutive quarter the Company has paid a cash dividend.

The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,270 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and China. In fiscal 2007, The Home Depot had sales of $77.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $4.2 billion. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index. HDE.

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The Home Depot Announces Third Quarter Results

PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported fiscal 2008 third quarter consolidated net earnings of $756 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, compared with $1.1 billion, or $0.60 per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal 2007. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $0.45, compared to $0.59 per diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal 2007.

Sales for the third quarter totaled $17.8 billion, a 6.2 percent decrease from the third quarter of fiscal 2007, reflecting negative comparable store sales of 8.3 percent, offset in part by sales from new stores.

The Company had 53 weeks in fiscal 2007, which shifted the 2008 fiscal calendar. Because of this shift and given the seasonal nature of its business, third quarter sales, on a like for like calendar basis, were negatively impacted by approximately $225 million. Excluding the calendar shift, the Company's like for like comp for the quarter was negative 7.1 percent.

"The housing and home improvement markets remain challenging. Across our entire business, we are making the adjustments necessary to respond to a tough market environment," said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO.

"We are focused on the things we can control with a commitment to provide value and service to our customers," said Blake. "I am proud of what our associates have accomplished in a very difficult sales environment."

Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Outlook

Given the continued softness in the housing and home improvement markets as well as negative macro economic conditions, the Company now believes that fiscal 2008 sales could be down as much as 8 percent for the year. The Company expects that earnings per share from continuing operations will decline by approximately 24 percent, consistent with previous guidance.

The Company's 2008 earnings per share guidance does not include its store rationalization charge from the closing of 15 stores and removal of 50 stores from its future growth pipeline.

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at homedepot.com in the Investor Relations section.

At the end of the third quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,268 retail stores, which included 1,970 The Home Depot stores in the United States (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the territory of Guam), 172 stores in Canada, 73 stores in Mexico, 12 stores in China, as well as 2 THD Design Centers, 5 Yardbirds stores and 34 EXPO Design Center locations. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index. HDE

Certain statements contained herein, including any statements related to the state of the home improvement market, the state of the construction and housing markets, our reinvestment plans, comparable store sales, store openings and closures, implementation of store initiatives and financial outlook, constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are based on currently available information and current expectations and projections about future events, such forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: economic conditions in North America and in other countries where we operate; changes in our cost structure; our ability to attract, train and retain highly qualified associates; conditions affecting customer transactions and average ticket, including, but not limited to, improving and streamlining operations, customers' in-store experience, and risks associated with our distribution strategies and planned RDC roll-out. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements as they speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances except as may be required by law. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is contained in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2008. The risks and uncertainties described in our Form 10-K include the considerable risks associated with the current economic environment and the possible adverse effects on our results of operations and financial condition.

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The Home Depot Announces Second Quarter Results

PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported fiscal 2008 second quarter consolidated net earnings of $1.2 billion, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared with $1.6 billion, or $0.81 per diluted share, in the same period in fiscal 2007. Earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2008 were $0.71, compared to $0.77 per diluted share in the second quarter of fiscal 2007, a decrease of 7.8 percent.

Sales for the second quarter totaled $21.0 billion, a 5.4 percent decrease from the second quarter of fiscal 2007, reflecting negative comparable store sales of 7.9 percent, offset in part by sales from new stores.

The Company's fiscal 2007 contained 53 weeks of operations. This shifted the Company's 2008 fiscal calendar. Because of this shift, and given the seasonal nature of its business, second quarter sales, on a like for like calendar basis, were negatively impacted by approximately $160 million. Excluding the calendar shift, on a like for like basis, comparable store sales for the quarter were negative 7.2 percent.

"We continue to see pressure on our market and the consumer, generally," said Frank Blake, chairman & CEO. "Despite the macroeconomic conditions, we saw improved execution in our merchandising and operations initiatives during the past quarter. I am very proud of what our associates have accomplished in a difficult environment," said Blake.

Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Outlook

Given the continued softness in the housing and home improvement markets as well as the commitment to invest in its key retail priorities, the Company believes fiscal 2008 sales will decline by approximately five percent and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations will decline by approximately 24 percent. This is consistent with its previous guidance. The Company's 2008 earnings per share guidance does not include its store rationalization charge from the closing of 15 stores and removal of 50 stores from its future growth pipeline.

The Home Depot will conduct a conference call today at 9 a.m. ET to discuss information included in this news release and related matters. The conference call will be available in its entirety through a webcast and replay at homedepot.com in the Investor Relations section.

At the end of the second quarter, the Company operated a total of 2,257 retail stores, which included 1,965 The Home Depot stores in the United States (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the territory of Guam), 167 stores in Canada, 72 stores in Mexico, 12 stores in China, as well as 2 THD Design Centers, 5 Yardbirds stores and 34 EXPO Design Center locations. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index. HDE

Certain statements contained herein, including any statements related to the state of the home improvement market, the state of the construction and housing markets, our reinvestment plans and financial outlook, constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are based on currently available information and current expectations and projections about future events, such forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: economic conditions in North America; changes in our cost structure; our ability to attract, train and retain highly qualified associates; conditions affecting customer transactions and average ticket, including, but not limited to, improving and streamlining operations, and customers' in-store experience. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements as they speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances except as may be required by law. Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is contained in our periodic filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2008. HDE

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The Home Depot to Host Second Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call on August 19, 2008

PRNewswire-FirstCall/-- The Home Depot(R), the world's largest home improvement retailer, announced today that it will hold its Second Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call on Tuesday, August 19 at 9 a.m. ET.

A webcast will be available by logging onto www.homedepot.com and selecting the Second Quarter 2008 Earnings Conference Call icon. The link will be displayed on the home page as well as under the Investor Relations section. The webcast will be archived and available beginning at approximately noon on August 19.