Home Depot, May Department Stores Also Post Gains

May Department Stores Co. said its fourth-quarter earnings rose 10%, while Home Depot Inc. reported a 29.5% earnings gain for the period.

May’s expansion and cost cutting helped it continue to win market share from specialty and discount retailers.

May earned $401 million, or $1.59 a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 28, compared to $365 million, or $1.44 a share, during the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $3.95 billion.

May had a good Christmas selling season, though many apparel retailers struggled to bring in sales.

For the full year, earnings rose almost 10% to $782 million, or $3.06 a share, on revenue of $12.22 billion, compared to $711 million, or $2.77 a share, on revenue of $11.53 billion the year before.

May’s department store divisions include Lord & Taylor, Foley’s, Hecht’s, Kaufmann’s, Filene’s, Famous-Barr, Robinsons-May and Meier & Frank.

Home Depot, a home improvement chain, had net income of $145.9 million, or 32 cents a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 29, compared to $112.7 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter was $3.08 billion, compared to $2.29 billion in the 1993 quarter.

For the full year, Home Depot earned $604.5 million, or $1.32 per share, compared to $457.4 million, or $1.01 a share, in 1993.

Sales for 1994 were $12.48 billion, up from $9.24 billion in 1993.