Lowe's reports big second-quarter gains

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's Cos. reported second-quarter sales of $15.7 billion, up 10.3% from $14.2 billion in the same quarter last year.

Comp-store sales for the world's second-largest home improvement retailer were up 9.6%, as net earnings jumped 16.2% to $1.48 billion.

"Home improvement demand was strong during the quarter, and we capitalized on it with improving execution," said Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock. He added: "We drove a healthy balance of ticket and transaction growth, and delivered solid performance across all product categories."

The report follows by a day that of rival Home Depot, which posted a 10.7% comp-store sales gain.  

Lowe's said it expects full year total sales to increase about 5%. It also expect to open 10 stores in fiscal 2013.

As of Aug. 2, Lowe's had 1,758 stores in North America.