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Lowe’s released its first-quarter 2018 financial results on May 23, reporting net earnings of $988 million. The company released this information the day after naming Marvin Ellison as the new president and CEO of Lowe’s, effective July 2.
The quarterly results represent a 64-percent increase from the first-quarter of 2017, when the company announced net earnings of $602 million.
The big-box retailer reported first-quarter sales of $17.4 billion, up slightly from the $16.9 billion the company posted in the first quarter of 2017. Comparable sales for the company grew by 0.6 percent.
Lowe’s CEO credited strong indoor category sales as a leading factor in the company’s profits.
“We drove solid performance in indoor categories and continued to grow our sales to pro customers,” Richard A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman, president and CEO, says. “However, prolonged unfavorable weather across geographies led to a delayed spring selling season, which impacted results in outdoor categories. Spring has now arrived and we are encouraged by strong sales in the month of May.”
This week, Lowe’s named Marvin Ellison as the new president and CEO of the company, effective July 2. He will be replacing Niblock, who is planning on retiring.
Earlier this month, Home Depot also reported slow spring sales affected its first-quarter performance.
Lowe’s also released projections for fiscal year 2018. The company expects total sales to increase by approximately 5 percent and comparable store sales could increase by 3.5 percent. In 2018, the retailer anticipates opening 10 new home improvement stores.
Lowe’s, which is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, operates approximately 2,100 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It employs more than 310,000 people and its brick-and-mortar locations total more than 215 million square feet of retail space.
