MOORESVILLE, N.C.—In the wake of a 19 percent drop in its second-quarter net income, Lowe’s said it would cut back on new-store openings in 2010.
The home-improvement retailer said it now anticipates that openings of new locations would range between 35 and 45 next year, down from the 60 to 70 it expects to open for all of 2009. Meanwhile, net income for the quarter finished at $759 million, on sales of $13.8 billion, down 4.6 percent from the second quarter of last year. Same-store sales were off 9.5 percent in the quarter.
Robert A. Niblock, Lowe’s chairman and chief executive officer, noted that the economy and the second-quarter’s rough weather patterns in much of the country hurt the retailer in terms of restraining consumer spending. “Cautious consumers remain reluctant to take on discretionary projects until signs of economic improvement are more evident,” Niblock said. He added that some signs of a bottoming out in the housing market’s decline and in the economy as a whole appear to be under way.
A Lowe’s statement said the company now expects total third-quarter sales to be off by 2 percent to 5 percent, while same-store sales will drop 6 to 10 percent. For this fiscal year as a whole, the expectations are for a 3 percent drop in net sales and a comp-store falloff of 7 to 9 percent.