Rally at year’s end

Lowe’s, number two DIY retailer both in the USA and worldwide, completed its 2011/2012 fiscal year (to 3 February 2012) with a sales increase of 2.9 per cent to US $ 50.208 bn. There was no growth in like-for-like terms. Lowe’s, like its big rival Home Depot, also found its feet again in the fourth quarter when it notched up double-digit rates of increase. Sales here in comparison with the same period of the previous year grew by 11.0 per cent to US $ 11.629 bn. The overall like-for-like result was an increase of 3.4 per cent, and 3.5 per cent in the American domestic market. The company had 1 745 stores in operation in the US, Canada and Mexico with a combined retail area of more than 18 mio m² on the cut-off date.Lowe’s plans to open around ten new stores during the current fiscal year. Sales are expected to increase by between one and two per cent, and up to three per cent like-for-like.