Home Depot the world's largest home-improvement retailer, said today its fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 10 per cent, beating Wall Street estimates, as customer traffic was boosted by ad campaigns touting energy-efficient products and appliances.
For the three months ended July 29th, Home Depot reported earnings of $924 million up from $838 million a year earlier.
Sales, boosted by new store openings, came to $14.6 billion, up 16 per cent from $12.6 billion a year earlier.
Mr Robert Nardelli, Home Depot chief executive and president, cited ad campaigns and improving expense trends. "We were able to drive traffic and expand our average ticket during the quarter with events highlighting energy-efficient products, paint and appliances," he said in a statement.
Home Depot had 295 million customer transactions in the quarter, compared with 258 million a year earlier.
But Mr Nardelli sounded a cautionary note during a conference call with analysts, saying "the economy continues to be very stubborn."
Mr Nardelli said that, while he was encouraged by the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate cuts and hoped for another cut this month, "we're concerned relative to the slowdown that some of the old proven metrics of Fed rate reductions may not have the same impact on the economy as they've had in the past."
At the end of the second quarter, Home Depot operated a total of 1,249 stores.