Sales losses for Lowe's

For the fiscal year to 29 January 2010 the DIY retail giant Lowe's reported sales down to US $ 47.2 bn, a fall of 2.1 per cent on the previous year. The deficit came to 6.7 per cent in like-for-like terms. Yet an improvement did become evident towards the end of the year: the second-largest DIY retailer in the world completed the fourth quarter with sales up 1.8 per cent to US $ 10.2 bn (-1.6 per cent like-for-like). Lowe's opened eleven new stores in the fourth quarter, which resulted in a combined total of 1 710 outlets in operation in America and Canada on the cut-off date. At 17.9 mio m² their retail area was 3.5 per cent above the previous year's figure. A total of between 40 and 45 new DIY stores are to be added during this current year. The company expects overall sales growth to amount to between four and six per cent, or one to three per cent like-for-like.