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Home Depot stalls as Wal-Mart accelerates
Two of America's leading retailers painted very different pictures of the nation's economy as it continues to deal with the stresses of a stagnant housing market and a rise in the cost of basic staples such as food and fuel. DIY company Home Depot saw a 27pc drop in third-quarter profits as the housing slump hit home, while retailing behemoth Wal-Mart reported an 8pc rise in profits in the same period. Wal-Mart appeared to buck the economic downturn, reporting pre-tax profits of $2.86bn (£1.4bn) in the three months to October, from $2.65bn in the same quarter last year. The results helped halt four days of losses on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones trading up 189 points at one stage. "Wal-Mart is the benchmark for all retail spending," said Michael Mullaney, of Fiduciary Trust in Boston. Wal-Mart has been trying to revive sales by cutting the prices on 15,000 popular items, including toys and electrical goods, ahead of the traditional pre-Christmas sales push, which usually begins the weekend after Thanksgiving (November 22). Sales in the period rose 9pc to $9.09bn, with sales in the US stores business up 6.4pc to $57.65bn as a result of the price cuts. At Home Depot, the country's largest home improvement retailer, the picture was bleak. Pre-tax profit fell to $1.1bn in the three months to October, from $1.5bn. Total sales fell 3.5pc to $18.96bn, with like-for-like sales off 6.2pc, as Home Depot continued to lose overall market share in the sector. It also said it would not complete its planned $22.5bn share buy-back this year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/11/14/cnwalmart114.xml |
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