Home Depot says profit improving on housing market boom

Home Depot Inc. is another beneficiary of the housing boom.

The largest U.S. home-improvement retailer said Wednesday that it would meet a profit-improvement goal one year ahead of schedule, thanks in part to demand created by homeowners.

In June 2012, the company announced a long-term operating margin target of 12% and goal of creating 24% return of invested capital by the end of its 2015 fiscal year. Now, the company said it expects to reach those targets by the end of the 2014 fiscal year.

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Home Depot said it now expects to have an operating margin of 13% by the end of 2015 with a return on invested capital of 27%.

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our associates, we expect to meet the financial targets we set out in June of 2012 a year earlier than planned. We have set out a challenging new goal for 2015 and plan to continue to build on our company’s foundation of customer service, product authority and value creation,” said Frank Blake, the company’s chairman and chief executive.

Home Depot shares were up about 1% in morning trading on Wall Street.

The Atlanta company operates more than 2,200 stores in North America. It reported nearly $75 billion in sales for the fiscal year ended in February.

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