Lowe’s: flat sales trend

Lowe’s, the world’s second-biggest DIY and home improvement company, increased sales in the second quarter (to 29 July 2011) on the same period last year by 1.3 per cent to US $ 14.543 bn. This amounted to a decline of 0.3 per cent in like-for-like terms. Sales in the first six months, which remained on last year’s level, showed a minimal decline (0.08 per cent), though they were 1.7 per cent down in like-for-like terms. Having opened two new stores in the second quarter, the company had 1 753 DIY stores in operation in the USA, Canada and Mexico on the cut-off date.