Lowe's earnings are up 31.4%

In a quarter of strong home improvement demand, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s reported net earnings of $884 million for the quarter ended April 29, a 31.4% increase over the same quarter lat year.

Sales for the quarter increased 7.8% to $15.2 billion. Comp-store sales increased 7.3% overall, and increased 7.5% for the U.S. business.

"We executed well in the quarter, growing both transaction and average ticket to achieve comparable sales growth that exceeded our expectations," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman, president and CEO. "We continued to focus on providing better omnichannel customer experiences, and saw strength in indoor as well as outdoor categories.”

At the end of the quarter, Lowe’s operated 1,860 home improvement and hardware stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Earlier this year, Lowe’s announced a deal to acquire Canadian home improvement giant RONA for $2.3 billion.

Lowe’s first-quarter results include an unrealized gain on a foreign currency hedge entered into in advance of the company's pending RONA acquisition, which increased pre-tax earnings for the first quarter by $160 million and diluted earnings per share by $0.11.

Lowe’s report follows by one day the earnings report of rival Home Depot. Lowe’s won by a slim margin the head-to-head comp-store comparison, as Home Depot’s comps were positive 6.5% overall, and positive 7.4% in the U.S.