Minimal comparable-store growth

Lowe’s ended the first quarter (to 2 May) with no more than minimal growth of 0.1 per cent in comparable store sales. Overall sales increased by 11.4 per cent to $ 7.21 bn (€ 6.22 bn) compared with the same period last year. At the same time, net earnings made a leap of 21.7 per cent and reached $ 421 mio (€ 363 mio). After 21 new openings in the first quarter the world’s second largest DIY store operator had a total of 875 stores as of the cut-off date.