NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Home Depot, Inc., a U.S.-based multinational home improvement retailer, on Tuesday reported sales increase in fiscal 2024 ending Feb. 2, but remained cautious about its business outlook for fiscal 2025.
The Home Depot registered 159.5 billion U.S. dollars of net sales in fiscal 2024, an increase of 6.8 billion dollars, or 4.5 percent from fiscal year 2023.
The company also announced that its board of directors approved a 2.2 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to 2.30 dollars per share, which equates to an annual dividend of 9.20 dollars per share.
In particular, the chain store saw 0.8 percent of year-on-year growth in comparable sales for the fiscal quarter ending Feb. 2, which marks the first quarterly expansion since January 2023.
The growth of the fourth fiscal quarter was particularly strong, with sales rising across approximately half of its merchandise categories and in 15 of its 19 U.S. geographic regions, according to Richard McPhail, chief financial officer of The Home Depot.
But McPhail likewise had a cautious forecast for fiscal 2025, saying the housing market still suffers from higher mortgage rates.
The Home Depot forecasted about 2.8 percent and 1 percent of growth with total sales and comparable store sales in fiscal 2025, lower than analysts' expectation of 3.27 percent and 1.88 percent, respectively.
Moreover, adjusted, diluted earnings per share with The Home Depot is expected to dip by around 2 percent in fiscal 2025 while market consensus forecasted an increase of 2.56 percent.
As the world's largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot's performance is closely tied to housing market conditions. In 2024, mortgage rates remained elevated, leading U.S. home sales to fall to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.
Additionally, inflation has dampened consumer spending on large-scale home renovation projects. Consumers are still reluctant to splurge on bigger projects, such as redoing a kitchen or installing new flooring, said McPhail.
Looking ahead, McPhail said that The Home Depot plans to focus on strategic growth initiatives, including expanding its store footprint and investing in e-commerce to adapt to changing market conditions.
The Home Depot's shares closed at 393.27 dollars per share, up 2.84 percent on Tuesday.
