For investors, The Home Depot sets its priorities

Atlanta-based The Home Depot heads into its 20102 investor and analyst conference today with a full slate of priorities.

The company pointed to four key strategic priorities:

• On creating an emotional connection with customers, putting customers first and simplifying the business;

• On its merchandising transformation and portfolio strategy, including innovation, assortment and value;

• On continuous operational improvement, incremental supply chain benefits and shareholder value built through higher returns on invested capital and total value returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases; and

• On building a competitive platform across all commerce channels. 

“The Home Depot has a strong foundation of customer service, product authority and value creation,” said CEO Frank Blake in a press release. “We will continue to build on our strategic priorities as we look to 2015 and beyond.” 

The company still expects sales to be up approximately 4.6% for the year on a 53-week basis and diluted earnings per share to be up approximately 17%.

In 2011, The Home Depot had sales of $70.395 billion, up from $67.997 billion in 2010. Net earnings for the company were $3.883 billion, up 14%.