Lowe's Sees 27 Percent Earnings Increase

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - Lowe's Companies, Inc. today reported net earnings of $508 million for the quarter ended January 28, 2005, a 26.7 percent increase over the same period a year ago.

Sales for the fourth quarter increased 17.9 percent to $8.55 billion, up from $7.25 billion in the fourth quarter of 2003. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter increased 6.9 percent. For the year ended January 28, 2005, sales increased 18.2 percent to $36.5 billion. Comparable store sales increased 6.6 percent for fiscal 2004.

?EUR??,,????'??The results our stores delivered in the fourth quarter highlighted a great year for Lowe's,?EUR??,,????'?? Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman, president and CEO said. ?EUR??,,????'??During the year we completed the successful rollout of our new installed sales model, enhanced our special order sales offering, and continued to improve our ability to serve commercial business customers.

During the quarter, Lowe's opened 56 new stores, and now operates 1,087 stores in 48 states representing 123.7 million square feet of retail selling space, a 13.8 percent increase over last year.