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Home Depot raises outlook
Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement chain, raised its fiscal-year profit forecast for the second time in three months yesterday as timely promotions and renewed focus on cheaper products helped it gain market share from rival Lowe’s Cos. Home Depot said it still expects fiscal-year sales to rise 2.5 per cent. It forecast earnings of $2.34 a share excluding future stock repurchases, up from a prior forecast of $2.24. In the second quarter, Home Depot’s same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 4.3 per cent globally, including a 3.5 per cent rise in US same-store sales.